Gumi: Kidnapping schoolchildren is ‘lesser evil’ compared to killing soldiers
Kaduna-based Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi says the abduction of schoolchildren, while condemnable, is a “lesser evil” when compared with the killing of soldiers.
In an interview with the BBC published on Tuesday, Gumi said both acts are wrong but differ in severity. He defended earlier comments on the matter, insisting that his assessment is based on a moral hierarchy rather than support for criminal behaviour.
“Saying that kidnapping children is a lesser evil than killing your soldiers — definitely it is lesser,” he said. “Killing is worse than kidnapping, but they are all evil. Not all evils are of the same power.”
Gumi also argued that neither religious scripture nor global practice supports the claim that governments should not negotiate with terrorists, describing such a stance as unrealistic.
“That phrase, ‘we don’t negotiate with terror’, I don’t know where they got it from. It’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Quran. In fact, it’s not even in practice. Everybody is negotiating with outlaws, non-state actors — everybody,” he said.
“We negotiate for peace and our strategic interests. If negotiation will bring a stoppage to bloodshed, we will do it.”
Responding to criticism that his past engagements with armed groups legitimize criminality, Gumi dismissed such views as uninformed and disconnected from the complexities of conflict mediation.
“Anybody who thinks that way doesn’t understand the intricacies and what we go through,” he said. “I go there with the authorities. I don’t go alone. And I go there with the press.”
He said his last direct interaction with bandit groups occurred in 2021 during efforts to facilitate dialogue, adding that while some state authorities welcomed his involvement, the federal government “wasn’t keen”.
Gumi called for a strengthened military presence in affected areas but stressed that force alone cannot end the crisis.
“We need a robust army… but even the military is saying our role in this civil unrest, in this criminality, is 95 percent kinetic,” he said. “The rest is the government, the politics, and the locals. The military cannot do everything.”
