For alleged romance with bandits/terrorists, a civil society organisation, under the auspices of Coalition for Peace In Nigeria (COPIN), has advised the Department of State Services (DSS), to without hesitation, arrest a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi.

COPIN opined that owing to Gumi’s persistent call on the federal government to grant the terror elements amnesty, he should ordinarily be a person of interest.

Pharmacist Emeka Akwuobi and Hajiya Fatih Yakub, the National Coordinator and the Secretary of the group, respectively, in a joint statement issued on Wednesday, said that Sheikh Gumi had a lot of explanations to offer on the activities of bandits, especially those operating within the North West area.

The group vehemently insisted on the immediate arrest, interrogation and prosecution of the Islamic scholar, while commending the secret service on the professional manner it handled the arrest of an acclaimed kidnapped Abuja/Kaduna train passengers’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu.

According to the statement, it is more so that Mamu, the bandits’ negotiator, is the undisputed spokesperson for the Kaduna-based influential Islamic cleric.

The group believed that apprehension of Gumi is fundamental to a peaceful election, as he would provide the service with credible/actionable intelligence on the actual locations, and modus operandi of the terrorists, culminating in their arrest.

The group said should the intelligence agency fail to invite Gumi for an interview, it would organise a peaceful protest in Abuja, and other cities in the country.

According to the statement, “We have watched with keen interest the provocative tendencies of Sheikh Gumi, especially as they relate to the activities of bandits/terrorists operating within the North West general area.”

The group noted with concern Gumi’s call for the grant of amnesty to terrorists, who have killed and maimed thousands of unarmed civilians, including women and children, lamenting that of particular interest is the kidnap of the Abuja/Kaduna train passengers by the terrorists in April this year, with many of whom still being held under terrible conditions.

Consequently, COPIN demanded the immediate arrest and interrogation of Gumi who it said by now, “should be a person of interest to all intelligence and law enforcement agencies.”

It said it would not hesitate to mobilise for peaceful protests in strategic cities, including Abuja, if the DSS failed to invite the Islamic Cleric for an interview on all he knows about bandits/terrorists holding the North West States, and parts of North Central, to ransom.