The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and a Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) have chided Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, over his statement on the kidnap of school children and comparing bandits with the Biafran agitators.
Gumi reportedly said that the “herdsmen only kidnap school children for money,” hence “they are better than IPOB and ESN who go about killing northerners.”
Responding to the allegations yesterday, IPOB denied ever killing any northerner, stressing that its emergence in 2020 was to challenge killer herdsmen and terrorists who go about killing and raping women in their farms in Biafra land.
IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said: “ESN is a child of necessity for the defence of our ancestral land against terrorists and killer herdsmen wrecking havoc across our communities. ESN is only defending our hapless mothers and sisters who have been raped, maimed and attacked by Fulani herdsmen without any justification.”
Similarly, COSEYL’s President, Goodluck Ibem, and Secretary, Kanice Igwe, stated that Gumi’s position on the kidnap of school children exposed his true identity as a “hardened promoter” of terrorism in the country.
READ ALSO: Herdsmen Only Kidnap Children For Money, They Are Better Than IPOB: Gumi
They said: “The crime of kidnapping pupils is the most heinous crime anyone can commit. No sane country will tolerate such heinous crime against humanity. It is a wicked and barbaric crime anyone can commit.
“In truth, Gumi is not a peace negotiator as he claims; he is rather a facilitator of terror. It is very unfortunate that our country, Nigeria, has been reduced to a level where bandits, who kidnap school children, kill security agents who try to stop them, are good people because they are Muslims committing crime to make money.”