Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has berated controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi for advising the government against killing bandits.
Gumi spoke with The Punch on Monday in the wake of the latest abduction of students of a government school in Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State last Thursday.
He said that the Federal Government must engage bandits to guarantee the safety of schools.
The cleric advised against aerial bombardment of bandits, insisting that they were “victims” too.
“To secure schools, why not engage the bandits. Engage them; they are not many. You can count them with your fingers. How can you guard schools? It is not possible. In the whole north-west, they may not be more than 100,000 bandits. And that is just a drop in the ocean.
“That is talking about those with weapons; because not all of them have weapons. Ninety per cent of those who have weapons use them to protect themselves against cattle rustlers.
“They are victims too. Aerial bombardments will only worsen the situation because when you start killing their children, you remember they also have our children.”
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Reacting, Fani-Kayode described Gumi as a “heartless defender of child-abductors and cold-blooded killers”.
“Just listen to this heartless defender of child-abductors and cold-blooded killers. He is a dark and wicked soul, a callous Philistine and an unrepentant barbarian.
“Every bloodthirsty terrorist and Janjaweed bandit should be brought to justice, exterminated and sent to hell.
“Those that speak for them, defend them and attempt to rationalise or justify their barbaric actions like this unconscionable and evil creature deserve worse. Hell-fire awaits you,” Fani-Kayode wrote on Twitter.