Gumi Reveals Those Responsible For Zamfara Schoolgirls Abduction

Prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has revealed that another faction of bandits in Zamfara State is responsible for the abduction of some students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of the state.

Naija News had earlier reported that gunmen suspected to be bandits stormed the school in the early hours of Friday and abducted an unconfirmed number of schoolgirls.

The sad incident was confirmed by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran while addressing newsmen hours after the kidnap.

This development comes a week after 27 schoolchildren were abducted from Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State.

In an interview with The Nation, Gumi said the bandits he recently met with inside Zamfara forests were not responsible for the kidnap of the schoolgirls.

The prominent cleric had earlier met with the bandits in Zamfara where about 500 were reported to have repented in Shinkafi local government area.

Sheik Gumi and his delegation also met with bandits at Sububu forest and Pakai forests to accept the amnesty granted to them by the state government.

He said: “They are not the ones that abducted the girls. It is a splinter group.”

When asked whether he would be going to Zamfara to meet the bandits for talks and plea for the release of the schoolgirls, Sheikh Gumi simply said, “maybe“.

Meanwhile, media aide to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, has berated the Muhammadu Buhari-led government over the abduction of the schoolgirls.

Reacting to the kidnap in a series of tweets via his Twitter handle on Friday, Tanko-Yakasai asserted that the ruling All Progressives Congress government has failed Nigerians in the area of security and protection of lives and properties.

The media aide called on security agencies to immediately secure the release of the schoolgirls and urged the federal government to deal decisively with terrorism and insecurity in the country.

He noted that it has become normal that each time tragedy strikes, Nigerians lament, condemn and the government pretends to do something with no concrete measure to forestall a recurrence.

He wrote: “Clearly, we as APC government, at all levels, have failed Nigerians in the number 1 duty we were elected to do which is to secure lives & properties. Not a single day goes by without some sort of insecurity in this land. This is a shame! Deal with terrorists decisively or resign.

“Norm indeed, each time another tragedy happens, we lament, condemn, create hashtag, the govt pretends to do something, no concrete steps to prevent reoccurrence, and then we repeat the process. To what end? Where are those saddled with the responsibility?”