By Our Correspondent

Prominent pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has for the umpteenth time called on the Federal Government to immediately arrest and prosecute the controversial Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi for consistently defending the atrocities and blood-cuddling violence unleashed on innocent citizens by the largely Fulani terrorists in the North West of Nigeria.

HURIWA in a media statement endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko condemned the Federal Government’s selective adherence to the counter terrorism law by failing consistently to rein in and arrest Sheikh Gumi the Kaduna based Islamist for possible prosecution for providing moral and propaganda support for terrorists just as the Rights group said it was morally wrong that the federal Government has kept Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra for ten years in detention of the secret police for seeking the self determination of the Igbo speaking region of Nigeria but the same government has looked the other way when the Kaduna state based Islamic cleric has continuously provided ample intellectual support to the North West based Fulani terrorists and he has continued to pollute the media space canvassing for amnesty for mass murderers and terrorists.

HURIWA wishes to remind Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was once a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Nigeria has detailed counterterrorism provisions in its domestic law. A 2011 counterterrorism law was amended in 2013 and then again in 2022, in a law that made capital punishment the maximum sentence for certain terrorist offences. There is a carve-out in the law for the exercise of the fundamental human right of peaceful protest.

THE DEFINITION OF TERRORISM IN DOMESTIC LAW

Section 1(3) of the 2022 Act redefines an act of terrorism as follows:

an act which is wilfully performed with the intention of furthering an ideology, whether political, religious, racial, or ethnic, and which –

(a) May seriously harm or damage a country or international organisation;

(b) unduly compels a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing any act;

(c) seriously intimidates a population;

(d) seriously destabilises or destroys the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organisation;

(e) influences a government or an international organisation by intimidation or coercion;

(f) violates the provisions of any international treaty or resolution to which Nigeria is a party, subject to the provisions of section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; and

(g) involves, causes or results in –

(i) attack on a person’s life, in the form of grievous bodily harm or death,

(ii) kidnapping of a person,

(iii) destruction of Government or public facility, a transport system, an infrastructural facility, including national critical information infrastructure, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, a public place or private property, which may likely endanger human life or result in major economic loss,

(iv) the seizure of an aircraft, ship, or other means of public transport or conveying goods, or the diversion or use of such means of transportation or conveyance for the purposes of subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph,

(v) the manufacture, possession, acquisition, transportation, transfer, supply or use of weapons, including explosives or biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear weapons (BCRN weapons), as well as research into and development of BCRN weapons without lawful authority, and the receipt, possession, use, transfer, alteration, disposal or dispersal of nuclear or other radioactive material or devices,

(vi) the release of dangerous substance, causing of fire, explosions or floods, the effect of which is to endanger human life,

(vii) interference with or disruption of the supply of water, power, or any other fundamental natural resource, the effect of which is to endanger human life,

(viii) the release into the environment or any part thereof, or distribution or exposure of the public or any part to dangerous, hazardous, nuclear, or other radioactive or harmful substance, any toxic chemical, microbial or other biological agent or toxin, the effect of which is to endanger human life or to provoke substantial damage to property or to the environment,

(ix) endangering or engaging in acts likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft, ship, train or any other means of transportation,

(x) the bombing and other acts of violence at airports and other public places,

(xi) the disruption of any computer system or the provision of services directly related to the supply of water, power, communications, infrastructure, banking or financial services, utilities, transportation, other essential infrastructure or any other fundamental natural resources, the effect of which is to endanger human life,

(xii) the disruption of the provision of essential emergency services, including police, civil defence, medical and acts prejudicial to national security or public safety,

(xiii) the propagation and dissemination of information or information materials in any form or mode calculated to cause panic, evoke violence or intimidate a government, person or group of persons, or

(xiv) an act directed against a nuclear facility, or an act interfering with the operation of a nuclear facility, where the offender intentionally causes, or where he knows that the act is likely to cause, death or serious injury to a person or substantial damage to property or to the environment by exposure to radiation or release of radioactive substance, unless the act is undertaken in conformity with the provisions of existing laws.
Under section 1(4) of the Act, an act which “disrupts a service but is committed in pursuance of a protest, demonstration or stoppage of work is not a terrorist act within the meaning of this definition, provided that the act is not intended to result in any harm referred to in subsection (3) (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g)”.

HURIWA is therefore asking that Gumi be immediately arrested and prosecuted for openly canvassing support for terrorists just as HURIWA also condemned some Northern States for funding the charades of the so-called public protests in parts of Northern Nigeria rejecting the well-considered and well-thoughtout offer of military assistance against terrorists killing Christians and other Nigerians as made by the President of the United States of America Mr. Donald John Trump. HURIWA said allowing thr protests to continue especially in the North shows that some top politicians are actually the sponsors of terrorists and this should be a wake-up call on the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to uncover the funders of terrorists who are now funding the public protests against US intervention to take out terrorists who are responsible for over 40,000 deaths of mostly Christians and the destruction of Churches and places of worship of Moderate Muslims.

HURIWA recalled that the Kaduna based Islamist, Mr. Gumi, has consistently courted public outrage over his sympathy for terrorists, just as he has just made another remarks during an interview on Trust TV on Friday in which he backed the North West terrorists.

Specifically, the Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has again defended bandits terrorising northern Nigeria, claiming they are on “revenge missions” rather than waging unprovoked violence.
Gumi, who has consistently courted public outrage over his sympathy for terrorists, made the remarks during an interview on Trust TV on Friday which SaharaReporters monitored.
The Sheikh argued that the Fulani herdsmen and bandit groups “do not attack people without any cause.”
“The former governor of Bauchi State, (Isa) Yuguda, was able also to go with a government delegation into the bush and they met more than 5000 bandits. They are all complaining — those who have lost their parents, those who have lost their brothers, those from hostility too,” Gumi said.
While admitting that the killings carried out by bandits were “wrong and obnoxious,” the cleric maintained that the attackers were motivated by grievances and vengeance, not sheer brutality.
“Yes, I know they have killed, and it’s wrong to kill anybody innocent. This is absolutely an obnoxious thing to do. We don’t support that. But you see, if you know their psychology, they are on a revenge mission,” he said.
Gumi, who has long advocated amnesty and negotiation for bandits, further claimed that Fulani herdsmen had lived peacefully with other ethnic groups for centuries and are only reacting to injustices they suffered.
“Everybody knows the herdsmen, as well as the Fulani herdsmen. They don’t just attack people. We have been living with them for centuries. They don’t attack people without any cause,” he insisted.
He urged the Tinubu administration to unify and rehabilitate the armed groups instead of launching military offensives against them.
“What I think the government needs to do is to really bring them together in a unison and in a holistic form so that there is peace. They are ready for that, because if you call them for peace, they come,” he said.
The cleric also drew a controversial comparison between bandits and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), accusing the latter of rejecting dialogue and pursuing secession.
“It’s unlike the others like IPOB. The government has been trying to dialogue with them; they still refuse. They are still behind creating a separate state. They are secessionists. Besides being terrorists, they are secessionists. Well, these people (bandits) are not secessionists. They want peace,” Gumi said.

HURIWA also backed the call for the arrest of Gumi made by the General Overseer of El-Buba Outreach Ministries who stated correctly that apprehending controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmed Gumi would enable the Nigerian government to resolve the country’s security challenges in less than a week.

HURIWA recalled that the reputable Prophet Isa El-Buba speaking during an interview with News Central TV, alluded that Gumi’s connections to bandits make him central to getting rid of Nigeria’s insecurity. “Sheikh Gumi met with them some time ago. But when he started meeting with the bandits, you could listen to what he has been saying. These are people that have killed tens of thousands of people, and you (Gumi) is telling us to negotiate with them. He’s one of the people that if the government picks him up, in less than one week, the Nigerian government will deal with this matter,” El-Buba stated.
The clergy also claimed that the Miyetti Allah group are complicit in the northern insecurity.
“The Miyetti Allah group is complicit in the insecurity matter in the North. They control 80% of what is going on,” El-Buba alleged.
Prophet El-Buba characterized statements from these organizations as explicit threats against national peace, citing past declarations by their members and leadership.
According to the clergy, representatives of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) have previously stated that Nigeria will not experience peace unless certain demands are met.

HURIWA stated that the provisions of chapter 4 of the constitution which guarantees fundamental human rights did not support the public canvassing of the position of the terrorists just as Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has continued to promote the ideology of the killer terrorists just as HURIWA said the failure to arrest Gumi is discriminatory especially when Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra has been held for a decade with no respite just for canvassing self determination which finds global human rights support in the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and political rights but Gumi who promotes the ideology of terrorists openly using different media of public communications is walking freely on the streets of Nigeria like he is a sacred cow.

“We caution such Northern States like Kano that are allegedly funding the charades called public protests against the threats of President Trump to attack terrorists to desist from doing this disservice to the victims of the well coordinated genocide of Christians in Nothern Nigeria. HURIWA wonders how the threats of Trump to bomb terrorists have been misinterpreted by sponsors of terrorists as threats to attack Nigeria as if Nigeria is a terrorist state. President Trump only made threats to massively bomb terrorists in their hideout, how then are some Nigerians interpreting that to mean that Trump is threatening to bomb Nigeria? May be some of us are missing some vital information regarding how well connected these sponsors of terrorists are to a point that they are now moulding the official narratives of the Federal government to appear like Trump is threatening to bomb Nigeria.”