Nigerians Slam Sheikh Gumi On Social Media After New Controversial Banditry Claims

Following his contentious remarks on what he called “supreme banditry,” Nigerians have resorted to social media to voice their displeasure with Islamic preacher Sheikh Ahmad Gumi. Following Gumi’s statement that bandits who attack villages are not the most dangerous actors, but rather that “supreme banditry” targets nations and kidnaps leaders, there was a backlash. His remarks immediately caused a flurry of online responses, with many users accusing him of endorsing or indirectly supporting criminal components.

Comment sections on several websites were inundated with sarcasm, ridicule, and outright criticism shortly after the declaration became public online. With some arguing that the pastor’s use of terminology revealed an excessive familiarity with criminal organizations, many Nigerians wondered why he seemed at ease classifying banditry. Some people frankly accused him of “confessing,” while others asked if he was exempt from the law.

Some responses made fun of Gumi’s security, jokingly cautioning that he would have “no hiding place” if thieves turned against him. Others wondered why he made no explicit mention of Nigeria, and they questioned if he was reluctant to name the nation. Several users also questioned his reasoning, claiming that because villages are a part of a nation, they cannot be isolated from national attacks.

The charge that the priest had at last “accepted” the position of a bandit commander was one of the most frequent ones. Critics said that his use of terms like “supreme” and “attacking villages” demonstrated that he had too much knowledge of bandit activities. Some even asserted that Gumi was establishing himself as a mediator who could mediate between “supreme” and “non-supreme” criminals.

Other responses were more satirical, with readers joking about the “levels of banditry” in Nigeria, implying that there is now a hierarchy even in insanity. Even though some people acknowledged that the statement itself did not cause any deaths, they nonetheless wondered about the consequences of such words being uttered by a well-known religious leader.

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