Controversial Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has described the night raid of the house of his associate, Malam Tukur Mamu’s house and office in Kaduna by operatives of DSS as unlawful.
He said it was persecution akin to the ordeal of the late Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello and former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.
SaharaReporters had during the week reported that Mamu was during the week arrested on the orders of the Nigerian government.
He was on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj, was detained at the Cairo International Airport for 24 hours and is being repatriated back to Nigeria.
Mamu, who is the Publisher of Desert Herald Newspaper in Kaduna, negotiated the release of some of the victims of the March 28 2022 Kaduna Train attack.
The publisher while onboard the plane back to Nigeria said nothing incriminating was found on him, adding that the Egyptian authorities had informed him that they had no reason to detain him further.
The organisation said subsequently that security agencies executed valid search warrants on Mamu’s residence and office during which incriminating materials, including military accoutrements and large amounts in different currencies and denominations as well as financial transaction instruments, were recovered.
However, Gumi claimed that the security operatives who carried out the raids were not different from bandits who also break into people’s homes with guns without recourse to the law.
Gumi, in a sermon he delivered in Kaduna on Thursday evening, said Mamu was innocent of the allegations against him by the DSS, and said his only offence was helping families of the hostages to negotiate release of their loved ones.
He said, “This our brother that is being tested by Allah, there is no cause for alarm by Allah’s grace. We should see his travail as a test from Allah. Sometimes Allah tests you so that he can uplift you or lessen your sins. So, what happened to him is nothing to worry about. After all, he is used to it.
“So, this sermon is directed at the security agencies to stop persecuting innocent people under the guise of security report; they should wait and carry out their investigations diligently and gather enough evidence to charge an accused person to court as demanded by the law, within 24 hours and allow the Judge to pronounce the person guilty or otherwise.”
On how he and Mamu got involved in negotiating with bandits, Gumi said: “We discovered that people were being killed recklessly in this country, and instead of us to also fold our arms and enter our houses, we decided to go into the bush and see what exactly was the problem, so that we could have peace.
“But everyone came up with their own interpretations; they said we were supporting the bandits. But, was it when we started meeting the bandits that banditry started? We had gathered them, and they were ready for dialogue.
“There is nobody in government today that you will open his file, that you will not find a crime. But instead of people to own up to their crimes, they would be looking for scapegoats, they would be looking for people to implicate.
“I can almost swear to God that what is happening to our brother (Mamu) is what gave birth to banditry; a situation where security operatives would go to their (Fulani) communities and cheat them, kill their wives and children. That was why they said, is it not guns? We too should acquire guns.
“This gentleman (Mamu) is only helping; he is helping and people are being rescued.
“It was the bandits who appointed Mamu as negotiator because they saw that he is fearless in his news publication. But the question of whether Mamu is making mistakes in his duties as negotiator, it is impossible for him not to make mistakes. But you ought to look at the overwhelming success of his intervention.
“But to try to link him with a terrorists group in Egypt…. Imagine this type of lie. Is it with lies that you will achieve success? Going to his (Mamu) house in the middle of the night to break into it in a draconian way, shows you are not different from bandits. Bandits too come at night, so where is the difference?
“Bandits don’t follow the law, if you too break into someone’s house without following the law, how are you different? Bandits have guns, you too carry guns. So if both of you don’t follow the laws, you have become bandits.”
