Popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Abubakar Gumi has said that no school in the country is safe until government negotiates with bandits.

The cleric in an interview with Punch, disclosed that there are about 100,000 armed bandits in the North-West alone. He also revealed that these bandits who kidnap students were disappointed that he negotiated with them without the involvement of the Federal Government.

Gumi also maintained that the recent kidnap of pupils from Tegina Islamic School in Niger State, shows bandits are not targeting a particular religion but are just looking for money.

Sharing his thoughts on plan to rescue the Islamic students, Gumi said;

“But we are trying to talk sense to them that these are just innocent schoolchildren. We don’t even have any idea of the condition of the children. We are just saying these are young children trying to study and they did nothing, so why are you trying to take dirty money from their families?

“This (kidnap of Islamic pupils) actually proves to the nation that the bandits are not really indoctrinated, they are just looking for money and I think that this is a good prognosis. They are not targeting a religion; they are not ideologues, which are difficult to deal with. We should not forget that they are not educated, formally or informally. They are just going about with cattle, and suddenly they found a lucrative way of finding money.

“But with good engagement, education and enticements like jobs and other things, they will leave this work. But we need a partner and we need the government to understand. Individuals like me alone cannot do it.

“All those we met (have stopped kidnapping), except for one of them who is kidnapping again, and he told us his reason, that he was neglected and he thought we had the mandate to negotiate. But when he realised that we did not have the mandate from anybody, he said he was going back to his business.

“So, the earlier we go into engaging them, the better. The ones