TheCable

Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic cleric, has asked the federal government to use ”bad bandits” to fight the “ugly ones”.

Speaking with The PUNCH, Gumi said many of the bandits are willing to dialogue with the federal government and ready to surrender themselves for use.

The cleric said the government needs to be “proactive with them”.

“We are always trying to do our best, but you see, you need two hands to shake. You know these people (bandits) need engagements from the government itself,” he said.

“If you dialogue with them without the involvement of the government, it is a problem. Government needs to be proactive with them. We have a lot of them that are ready to fight the bad ones.

“Use the bad to fight the ugly, and use the good to fight the bad ones when you’re done with the ugly. Look at Boko Haram, who finished Shekau? Was it not the splinter group? So, it is easy.

“All these agitations you see, if the government can do a splinter group and the splinter group is empowered, every man wants power and money, they will do your job.

“There are many ready to submit themselves. All the ones you see me meeting in the bush, they are all telling us, ‘we are ready’.”

Gumi has always called for a dialogue between the bandits and the federal government.