Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, the Islamic cleric who said bandits should be granted amnesty has called on the federal government to pay the N100 million ransom demanded by kidnappers of Greenfield University students to prevent the situation from degenerating further.
Gumi also said, Tuesday, that Boko Haram was responsible for the kidnap and not bandits.
Acccording to PUNCH, Gumi lamented that his efforts, which had been yielding fruits, were not being appreciated by the government and advised that the money be paid by the Central Bank and later recovered from the kidnappers since it will be too large for them to run away with.
His words: “The money they are asking for is too much; if I give you that money, you cannot run away with it. Nobody can run. So, why not give them the money, they release the boys and then we pursue them and get our money back and do what is necessary; it is simple logic. So, bring the money from the central bank. How can they move that money? We should not be stupid.
“These people are getting infiltrated; Boko Haram is getting close and they don’t respect the clergy. I need support to get them inoculated against the infiltration of these ideologies, whether Boko Haram or Ansaru, whatever it is. We need to shield them because they are naïve. If there is too much pressure on them, and they see help from Boko Haram, who are richer and have more weapons, it is going to consume everybody.”
Leader of the group, Sani Idris Jalingo on Monday threatened to kill the students if a ransom of N100 million and 10 motorcycles ransom is not paid.
