Sheikh Gumi says he will support Nnamdi Kanu’s release if the IPOB leader shows true remorse, urging Nigeria to adopt dialogue and non-kinetic solutions to insecurity.
Islamic scholar Sheikh Gumi has renewed his argument that Nigeria must embrace dialogue and non-kinetic strategies if it truly intends to defeat insecurity.
During a recent television appearance, Sheikh Gumi stated that he would personally advocate for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), if Kanu sincerely expresses regret and commits to peacebuilding efforts.
According to Sheikh Gumi, the nation cannot rely solely on military force to resolve complicated security challenges that have devastated communities across the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, the cleric criticised the government’s overdependence on kinetic force, arguing that several armed groups are already willing to put down their weapons if the government adopts a more humane approach.
He said Nigeria keeps missing opportunities for peaceful resolution because it chooses hostility over dialogue.
In his view, even the most powerful armies in the world have failed to crush guerrilla-style resistance through warfare alone.
Drawing comparisons with global conflicts, he noted that the United States struggled for years in Afghanistan and Israel continues to battle insurgency in tightly confined territory.
These examples, he said, reflect the limitations of military action in conflicts rooted in social grievances, poverty and historical mistrust.
This is why Sheikh Gumi believes that Nigeria must rethink its security framework and embrace negotiation, community engagement and reconciliation.
On the contentious issue of Nnamdi Kanu, the cleric maintained that amnesty is not foreign to Nigeria’s history.
He recalled how past governments pardoned figures involved in civil conflict or armed agitation in order to stabilise the nation.
“If Nnamdi Kanu shows genuine remorse, publicly calls for peace and retracts past inflammatory statements,” he said, “I will be among the first to push for his release and amnesty.”
He stressed that forgiveness, when applied in the national interest, has proven effective in restoring calm.
Kanu was convicted on seven terrorism charges by the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 20, 2025, a decision that has generated intense debate across the country.
But Sheikh Gumi argued that reconciliation, even with controversial figures, is sometimes necessary to prevent prolonged unrest.
He pointed out that former President Shehu Shagari pardoned Odumegwu Ojukwu after the civil war, and President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua granted amnesty to Niger Delta militants despite their violent campaigns.
The cleric further explained that communal conflicts differ from individual criminal acts. When entire groups clash, he said, violence becomes widespread and accountability becomes complex.
In such cases, governments must pursue healing, not endless prosecution. However, he added that when an individual commits a personal crime, the law must take its full course.
Nigeria, he stressed, must learn how to differentiate between politically driven agitation and private criminality.
According to Sheikh Gumi, the worsening situation across the country demonstrates why dialogue-oriented solutions are urgently needed.
Recent mass kidnappings of schoolchildren, attacks on worshippers and community invasions in several states show that the current strategy is failing.
Continued insistence on military solutions, he warned, will only deepen the crisis and prolong suffering.
He urged the government, religious leaders, community elders and citizens to embrace a new path—one rooted in conversation, forgiveness and long-term peacebuilding.
“Nigeria needs peace in every region,” he said.
“Wherever tension exists, we must find the courage to address it with wisdom.”
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