Two herders came to me, they told me how they paid N1m to soldiers for transporting 45 cattle- Gumi

In a recent interview reported by The Nation, Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, spoke about his controversial negotiations with bandits, his experiences during visits to their camps, the Nigerian economy, President Bola Tinubu’s reforms and the 2027 general elections.

When he was asked if he could give an example of the injustice or neglect being carried out on herders, he said, “Only recently, two herders came to see me. They live around the Kachia area and were trying to move their cattle to a safer location in southern Kaduna because of insecurity and the declining availability of grazing land following the end of the rainy season.”

He said they had about 45 cattle, which they decided to transport in a lorry. However, at the first military checkpoint, they were allegedly asked to pay money before being allowed to proceed. He explained that after negotiations, they paid about N700,000.

He added that some of the cattle had become distressed inside the vehicle, with a few beginning to die, leaving them with little choice but to continue their journey. At another checkpoint, they were reportedly asked to pay an additional N300,000.

Further talking, he said, “Imagine having to spend almost N1 million simply to transport 45 cattle because of alleged extortion by security personnel.”

He said such incidents were happening within Nigeria’s security system, clarifying that he was not suggesting that the government had officially sanctioned the conduct but that some individuals had compromised the system.

He urged people to consider the consequences of such experiences, particularly what would happen when the children of the affected herders grew up hearing about them.

He noted that discussions about insecurity often focused on people’s reactions without examining the circumstances that triggered them.

He added that he had linked the herders with someone who could communicate with the General Officer Commanding (GOC) to ensure that the soldiers involved were identified and investigated.

According to him, these were some of the realities that people often failed to understand when discussing insecurity.

NewsCountry feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com