In a bid to ensure return of peace to the crisis-ridden Plateau state, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last week, deployed an emissary, Dr Abiodun Essiet, to parley with all tendencies with the sole aim of improving the inter-communal harmony in the state.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said this Sunday in a statement in Abuja.
Onanuga, according to the statement, said Essiet, a Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement in the North Central Zone to the President, had spent two days in the state, meeting with Christian clerics and Fulani Miyetti Allah community leaders, culminating in a town hall meeting in Jos, the state capital.
It said delegates from various local government areas, traditional rulers, women, and youth leaders gathered to discuss ways to strengthen community-based peace structures and promote coexistence among diverse communities.
The emissary, Blueprint reports, visited Rev Ezekiel Dachomo, Chairman of the Regional Church Council (RCC), in Barkin Ladi, where discussions centred on faith-based leadership and its role in promoting peace, unity, and social development.
Essiet, in company of the cleric, addressed some widows and conveyed President Tinubu’s message of fostering ethnic reconciliation in the state.
The statement said: “Essiet also met with Fulani leaders in Barkin Ladi to foster dialogue and mutual understanding between pastoral and farming communities, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to inclusive engagement.
“Later in the day, she conducted a workshop on establishing a community peace structure for the 17 Local Government Areas in Jos.
“Essiet also held a closed-door meeting with the Irigwe community, the Miyetti Allah group, and representatives from the Youth Council of Bassa LGA. They focused on sustaining peace and discussed how the 17-member peace committee strengthens dialogue, reconciliation, and coexistence between the two communities.”
Onanuga further quoted the emissary as restating Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to peace and inclusive governance, adding that the Community-Based Peace Structure serves as a key instrument for grassroots unity, dialogue, and long-term stability in the North Central region.
It said: “A quick win in the peace efforts was the resolution of the conflict between David Toma, the owner of Agha Farm in Gyel district of Jos South and some herdsmen. Toma seized two cows following the destruction of his farm.
“On November 15, the MACBAN Chairman of BASSA LGA, Alhaji Isah Yau, paid a compensation of N500,000 to Toma, who subsequently released the cows. All parties signed an undertaking to embrace peace in the state.”
….Gumi defends negotiation with bandits
Meanwhile, notable Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has defended is position on the need for negotiation with bandits.
In a statement Sunday shared via on his Facebook Wall, he condemned those who took a stand against his position, describing them as “spineless, irresponsible and unpatriotic imbecilic people.”
On the call from some quarters that he should be arrested, the cleric said engaging with bandits in an attempt to secure peace did not in any way amount to crime and criminality.
According to him, his critics, more than anything, were driven by “bigotry, ignorance and intolerance for differing viewpoints.”
“ARREST HIM!!! These are the only words some spineless, irresponsible and unpatriotic imbecilic people can utter,” Gumi said.
He regretted that his critics chose to politicise his peace efforts rather than reflect on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and seek a way out.
Recalling a peace deal he midwife January 2021 in Sabon Garin Yadi Forest, Giwa local government area of Kaduna state, Gumi said he was escorted by the then Commissioner of Police, who represented the Inspector-General of Police on the mission.
He said the meeting, which had over 600 armed bandits and their commanders in attendance, was part of a larger peace initiative aimed at persuading criminal elements to surrender their weapons, embrace dialogue and stop attacks on local communities.
Gumi said: “I was at Sabon Garin Yadi forest, accompanied by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police… This meeting was part of a peace initiative where we preached to over 600 bandits and their commanders, who agreed to lay down their arms in exchange for security and basic amenities.”
Describing the negotiation as transparent, legitimate and conducted with the approval and knowledge of the authorities, he further recalled that conditions given by the bandits which include, provision of basic amenities, protection from arbitrary arrests and assurances of safety, were never honoured by the government.
This, he said, led to the collapse of the peace deal.
Rather than interrogating why the authorities failed to implement the stated conditions, he said some Nigerians chose to condemn him.
“The purpose of the meeting was an effort to de-escalate violence by having bandits surrender their weapons and embrace peace.
“The outcome was that over 600 bandits agreed to lay down their arms. They presented conditions to the government… None fulfilled,” the cleric declared.
Saying his peace moves were in the best interest of the nation, Gumi questioned: “So, what is there to arrest for? For calling them to lay arms or amenities for them, or to educate the nation on their side of the story?”
“Is free speech no longer part of our constitutional right? Is their call for arrest not also prejudiced and an incitement to more violence?” he queried.
While calling on Nigerians to shun emotional reactions and consider practical approaches to ending the banditry, he said silencing champions of dialogue won’t address the nation’s festering socio-economic and security challenges, which according to him, fuel insurgency and rural banditry.
Concluding his thoughts on a prayerful note, he said: “May Allah protect our nation from bigotry, stubborn and complete intolerance of contrary views and opinions.”
