Sheikh
NUJ calls for Sheikh Gumi’s arrest
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Friday, called for the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for saying journalists are criminals for calling bandits criminals. The union expressed reservation on Gumi’s remarks during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday where he labelled journalists as criminals for calling bandits criminals. In his interview, Gumi said: “You are emphasising on criminality, I don’t know. Even the Press (journalists) are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire [sic]. These people are listening to you, don’t address them as criminals”. “It is instructive to note that one of the gangs that were recently interviewed by Nigerian journalist, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz and published in Daily Trust of today where the bandit leader insisted on being introduced properly as...
Israel, Bahrain leaders discuss Iran, possible vaccine plant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on Thursday discussed Iran and the possible involvement of the Gulf state in establishing a vaccine plant in Israel, the two countries said. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates formalised ties with Israel on Sept. 15 in part over shared concerns about Iran, in a deal forged by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, a move praised by Israel which has objected to the accord. His successor, President Joe Biden, wants to rejoin the deal. But in the week since Washington offered to talk with Tehran about reviving the nuclear deal, Iran has curbed U.N. monitoring and threatened to boost its uranium enrichment. Tehran denies...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Niger bandits promise to release captives, seek deradicalisation
Armed bandits terrorising some local government areas and communities in Niger State have promised to release all the kidnapped victims in their captivity. This followed a ‘mediation parley’ between a popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, and the criminals. Notorious kidnapping warlords such as Dogon Gida, Kachalla and others, it was gathered, attended the reconciliation forum with Gumi. They expressed willingness to be part of any de-radicalisation exercise or programme that the government will unveil for their repentant ‘boys’. “The meeting took place at an isolated area inside a forest in the state, yesterday,” a security source reliably disclosed. The bandits, he said, told Gumi that they were tired of the atrocities and killing of innocent persons. “They are not happy th...
Shiites call for release of Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, have called for unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, along with those still in detention. Recalled that the convoy of Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Yusuf Buratai had clashed with members of IMN in Zaria on December 12, 2015, leading to death of several persons on the fateful day. Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife and some Shiites have been detention, and undergoing court trial since the incident happened. In a statement on Sunday by the IMN media Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa to mark the 5th anniversary of the Zaria killings, it noted that five years in detention amounted to systematic oppression of Zakzaky and other members of the Movement. “As we mark the fifth anniversary of this Zaria Genocide Memori...
Associate disputes ‘marriage’ between NAF chief, minister
As news continued to spread on the purported marriage between the Nigerian Chief of the Air Staff, Sadique Baba Abubakar, and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, a VOA Hausa report has quoted a close friend of the Air boss describing the report as false. It was reported that Sadique and Sadiya got married in a mosque located in the Maitama high brow area of Abuja on the 18th of September, 2020. However, the VOA Hausa reported that when contacted on the matter, senior Air Force officers in Abuja said they were not aware of the marriage. “Even an intimate friend of the Air boss, who was in charge of his affairs, said he had inquired from his friend the Chief of Air Staff, and he told him the story was a fallacy.” A public commentator, Mohammed Usman, told the VOA that i...
Sheikh Gumi: Nigerians’ll regret it if Isa Pantami is removed
Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says Nigerians will regret it if embattled Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, is removed from office. Gumi, who recently met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and recommended special courts to try bandits and kidnappers, also said the country needed more people like Pantami in government. The controversial cleric spoke on Monday in an interview with Roots TV monitored by newsmen. He said, “All his (Pantami’s) actions, one hundred percent, shows he is not a terrorist. Those who are terrorists are after his life. The minister should continue. His presence there is fighting the terrorist ideology. “Show me one person he has killed. He has not killed anybody. He has not ordered the killing of anybody. The man is stabi...