Bandits now “fighting for Allah” like Boko Haram – Gumi

A Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has accused the Nigerian authorities of turning bandits operating in North-west and North-central Nigeria into religious fighters like Boko Haram insurgents operating in the country’s North-east.

Mr said a recent video of a jubilant terrorism kingpin, Bello Turji, and his armed bandits celebrating “victory” over the Nigerian military and claiming they are fighting for God was an indication that the group has adopted the ideology of Boko Haram.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the bandits on Thursday burnt down two Nigerian military Mines Resistant Armour Personnel (MRAP) vehicles stuck in the mud in the country’s northwest Zamfara State.

Mr Gumi, in a Facebook post, said the video uploaded by Mr Turji’s group had identified the bandits as Boko Haram members rather than people fighting against ethnic marginalisation.

Mr Gumi said he had advised Nigerian authorities to be careful in fighting the bandits so as not to push them to become guerrilla fighters and terrorists.

He said in the video showed that the groups had abandoned their initial fight against marginalisation and adopted the Boko Haram doctrine of fighting and killing in the name of God.

He wrote: “Radicalisation of Bandits: I warned against the danger”.

“Initially Bandits were fighting an ethnic war that could easily be resolved. I warned if the kinetic approach is intensified, they will turn into ideologically motivated guerilla warfare. Nobody listened.

“The difference between the former and the latter is that ideological war is mostly intractable, BH (Boko Haram) as an example. They commit the same crime, but this time, they think they are serving God. The picture is gloomy,” the cleric said.

This newspaper reported seeing a video of a jubilant terrorism kingpin, Mr Turji, and his armed bandits celebrating “victory” over the Nigerian military after burning down two Mines Resistant Armour Personnel (MRAP) vehicles stuck in the mud.

Soldiers abandoned the vehicles during an operation in the troubled Zamfara State in the country’s northwest region.

In the video, Mr Turji and his lieutenants are celebrating with victory slogans.

“Bello Turji has seized two trucks. Nigerian Army Bello Turji is coming for you, Insha Allah, if you don’t allow peace to reign. We are telling you and your clerics that we are with Allah”, Mr Turji says as he moves towards the stuck vehicles.

The hundreds of mostly youth bandits are dressed in combat regalia Bello Turji and are chanting “Allahu Akbar” and proclaiming “victory” over the army.

On Thursday, soldiers from the Nigerian Army 1 Brigade in Gusau, stationed at Zurmi, carried out an offensive against terrorists in a forest in the Kwashabawa area of the Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara.

The soldiers abandoned the vehicles and retreated from the scene because they could not move ahead in the dangerous areas with their plan to attack terrorist leaders in a meeting.