Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has argued that Nigeria can confront its internal security challenges without relying on direct foreign troop deployment.
Gumi made the remark while referring to a 2022 lecture delivered by former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (rtd), at Arewa House, Kaduna, titled Politics and Insecurity in Nigeria: Way Forward.
In the lecture, Buratai had advised that Nigeria must adopt a “whole of society approach” in dealing with insecurity, stressing that attention should be placed on non-kinetic measures that address the root causes of violence rather than only treating the symptoms.
Buratai also noted that military action should be used to create room for negotiations, mediation and dialogue, while calling for a comprehensive security approach, judicial reforms, police reforms, revitalisation of DICON, and improved intelligence-gathering systems.
Reacting to the position, Gumi said Buratai’s advice was “pricey” and, if implemented, would show that Nigerians are capable of handling internal insecurity without bringing foreign troops into the country.
He criticised those calling for reckless and indiscriminate bombings of markets and civilian areas under the excuse that such places harbour terrorists.
According to Gumi, such brutality does not solve insecurity but instead hardens criminals, fuels cycles of vengeance and leads to the killing of innocent civilians.
He added that once the fight against terror loses moral and legal restraint, it risks becoming another form of terror itself.
