“As a peace advocate, I am stunned by some remarks from ignorance that the military was or is prevented from engaging bandits or Boko Haram. This claim is false and malicious,” he said.
An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, has warned against any form of foreign military involvement in Nigeria’s counterterrorism operations, arguing that such intervention could attract international terrorist networks and further worsen insecurity in the country.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday, May 18, Gumi said Nigeria’s sovereignty “is a red line,” while cautioning against what he described as attempts to hand over the nation’s security challenges to foreign interests.
“As a peace advocate, I am stunned by some remarks from ignorance that the military was or is prevented from engaging bandits or Boko Haram. This claim is false and malicious,” he said.
The cleric maintained that at no point had the Nigerian military suspended operations against insurgents under the guise of amnesty, except during the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme introduced by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
