Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has requested government permission to engage in talks with the bandits responsible for the abduction of approximately 287 schoolchildren from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He emphasized the importance of dialogue as the preferred approach and urged President Bola Tinubu to adopt a different stance from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who rejected dialogue with the bandits.

The abduction occurred when bandits invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area, shooting at their victims before taking away around 280 pupils and teachers from both schools. This incident follows closely on the heels of the abduction of 200 internally displaced women in Borno State, who were taken while fetching firewood in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala.

Just before this recent incident, bandits had raided Gonin-Gora in the same Chikun LGA, leading residents to block the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest against the abduction of an unspecified number of individuals in the area. Despite these challenges, the affected state government has refused to engage in dialogue with the bandits for the release of the abducted schoolchildren, and it has denied allegations of hiring a private negotiator to facilitate their release.

In response to the situation, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi expressed disappointment with the government's stance of refusing to negotiate with the bandits. He advocated for dialogue not only for the release of the Kuriga schoolchildren but also for all similar cases. Gumi offered to lead a comprehensive dialogue between the government and the bandits, citing it as his religious duty to pursue peace. He urged President Tinubu's administration to heed this advice and engage in dialogue, contrasting it with the approach taken by the previous administration under President Buhari.

Gumi's willingness to facilitate dialogue with bandits is not unprecedented, as he has previously negotiated on behalf of state governments to secure the release of abducted individuals. In light of his efforts, one of the parents of the kidnapped students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Kaduna State called for commendation rather than condemnation of Gumi, acknowledging his interventions in seeking the release of abducted persons across the country.

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