Uncertainty Over Sheikh Gumi’s Alleged Invitation by DSS
Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has denied that he was invited by the Department of State Security (DSS) on Friday.
Gumi was widely reported to have been invited and grilled by the DSS over his recent claims that some men of the Nigerian military, police and other security personnel collaborate with bandits and kidnappers in the country.
DSS had insisted that the Islamic cleric was invited for questioning.
A Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service report monitored on Friday suggested that Gumi was invited to the Kaduna office of the DSS after the military authorities took exception to his comments.
VOA quoted Gumi’s spokesman, Tukur Mamu, to have said the Sheikh was invited to the DSS office in Kaduna.
“There is nothing like arrest at all. I think that should be the issue of concern, there is no arrest. On the issue of invitation, like I said, he was in the SSS office yesterday (Thursday) for about 15 minutes. It was a direct contact between him and the state director of DSS and nothing more,” Mamu explained in a widely circulated recording.
He claimed that such a visit was normal as the cleric has been working harmoniously with the Police and other security agencies, adding that Nigerians should understand that even before now, Sheikh Gumi has been interacting with the DSS, Police and the Army.
“There is nothing wrong for him to visit the DSS office; they use to advise each other. He gives his own advice to them and they open up for each other. As officials, they also have their own advice for him; they use to give him advice. It is all in the interest of peace and the whole nation,” Mamu explained.
But the cleric described the news of his arrest as fake, saying he has a harmonious working relationship with security agencies towards ending banditry in parts of the country.
“It is fake news,” he declared
DSS Insists
The DSS insisted on Friday that it invited Sheikh Gumi.
Its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, confirming the invitation and drilling of Sheikh Gumi, saying it was because the Sheikh was a person of interest in some cases going on in the country.
“The Army spokesman without listening (to the TV interview) just issued a statement. I am not sure he spoke with the hierarchy of the Army. The DSS did not invite me,” he asserted.
He explained that what he said was that there are bad elements in the military conniving with bandits, and not the whole military institution.
Gumi’s spokesman, Malam Tukur Mamu, in an interview with the VOA Hausa service, had also dismissed the allegation against Gumi, saying there was nowhere in the cleric’s interview with Arise Television that he (Gumi) categorically accused the entire military.
What Gumi said earlier
Gumi, as a guest on Arise News morning show, on Thursday, had said that some soldiers were colluding with bandits to perpetrate crime.
Sheikh Gumi explained that what he said was that there are bad elements in the military conniving with bandits, and not the whole military institution.
He accused Arise Television station of twisting his words and quoting him out of context, a development he said was responsible for the misunderstanding of his peace advocacy moves.
“The Army spokesman without listening (to the TV interview) just issued a statement. I am not sure he spoke with the hierarchy of the Army. The DSS did not invite me,” he asserted.
Gumi’s spokesman, Mamu, on Friday also said there was nowhere in the cleric’s interview with Arise Television that he (Gumi) categorically accused the entire military.
According to Mamu, what Gumi said was what people have been saying, and “even the soldiers have been saying that there could be some bad eggs amongst them.”
He therefore urged the military and Arise TV to apologize to the cleric and retract their statements against him or else he will seek legal action.
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