By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has provided an audio recording as evidence to support his claim that non-Muslim soldiers have been attacking Fulani communities in a bid to stir crisis in the country.
The cleric shared the recording with Reno Omokri, a former aide on social media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sheikh Gumi, in a video that has gone viral, was seen telling a large congregation that the enemies of bandits terrorizing the poor communities in the north are non-Muslim soldiers.
But Reno Omokri said when he saw the video of Gumi making the allegation against non-Muslim soldiers, he reached out to the cleric to confirm if the Sheikh indeed made those comments. He said Gumi confirmed that he made the comment, and then provided an audio recording to justify his claim.
Omokri said when he confronted Gumi through a prominent northerner, the cleric said he too was provided with the information by a Muslim soldier in 2014, seven years ago.
The audio, which Omokri put on his YouTube page, was in the Hausa language. The conversation was between a man who appears to be Sheikh Gumi and a man who claimed to be a soldier. The conversation, according to the details in the audio, took place on July 25, 2014.
The excerpt of the conversation is here translated.
Unknown soldier: We went for this operation in Birnin Gwari forest. The communities were about ten. I swear by God, all the people in the communities where being killed, men, women and children. Those that led us were; Brigadier Malu and Colonel Kolawole. Like Colonel Kolawole, all the communities he went for the operation, didn’t spare any member of the communities. He would kill them all. No one would be left alive
Gumi: Including children?
Unknown soldier: Including children and women. Among us were officers that were not Muslims, but were crying. There is an officer from Plateau, Captain Dimka. He was crying, including Major Jimoh. But you see this Colonel Kolawole, any of the communities he visited, he would kill all the people. The soldiers that were recruited by our former chief in 2012, were the ones he was using because if he told us to go killing with him, we would refuse. He would accuse us of using of sentiment. He would even beat us.
Gumi: This man is from where?
Unknown soldier: He is a Yoruba man.
Gumi: Muslim or Christian?
Unknown soldier: He is not a Muslim. He is a Christian. But he was a Muslim before, but he converted.
Gumi: What was the purpose of the operation?
Unknown soldier: They told us they were cattle rustlers. But we’ve never seen a cattle rustler in any of those communities. We didn’t also find a military firearm.