Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said he would champion calls for the release and pardon of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, if he publicly expresses remorse and embraces peace.
Kanu was recently convicted on seven terrorism-related charges by the Federal High Court in Abuja. Speaking during an appearance on The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Gumi insisted that a repentant Kanu deserves the same consideration given to other insurgent or separatist figures in Nigeria’s past.
“This Kanu that was imprisoned for terrorism for agitating that our soldiers should be killed—if this same Kanu now will show remorse and call for peace, honestly, I will be at the forefront in calling for his pardon and amnesty,” the cleric said.
Gumi cited past national leaders who opted for reconciliation, recalling how former President Shehu Shagari granted amnesty to Chukwuemeka Ojukwu after the civil war, and how President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua extended amnesty to Niger Delta militants despite their violent activities.
“This is how we are,” he added.
A long-time advocate of non-kinetic solutions to insecurity, especially in northern Nigeria, Gumi argued that dialogue remains the most effective approach for a country dealing with complex and unconventional threats.
“Even America could not succeed in Afghanistan; even Israel could not succeed in a small strip of land,” he said. “Our army is not designed for guerrilla fighters. No army is designed for the kind of people we are seeing now.”
He noted that some armed groups, including certain Fulani herders, have shown willingness to embrace peace when approached, though they often arrive armed out of fear.
“Anybody who inclines to peace, I’m with him,” Gumi stressed.
The cleric’s comments come amid rising insecurity across multiple states, with recent mass abductions of schoolchildren and worshippers heightening concerns over public safety. President Bola Tinubu has ordered security agencies to pursue the perpetrators, but critics argue the government’s response has been insufficient.
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