The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Global Investment and Trade Company (GITC), Mallam Baba Yusuf, has slammed Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s continued pleas for negotiations and rehabilitation of bandits, expressing worry about how such recommendations would impact victims of violent attacks around the country.
Yusuf questioned the basis of Gumi’s stance and cited the cleric’s earlier travel ban to Saudi Arabia during an interview on Channels Television on Saturday, May 30, 2026.
“Remember that Sheikh Gumi was forbidden from entering Saudi Arabia last year, even with a legitimate visa, and since 2010, he has been barred from entering Saudi Arabia,” Yusuf stated.
Gumi had previously called the limitation politically motivated, he said, but Yusuf maintained that the clergyman should consider the context of the decision. “He claimed it was politically motivated. “He needs a foot to think about, I tell him,” he declared.
Yusuf stated that the persistent argument over negotiating with armed groups had grown monotonous and wondered why rehabilitation programs were still being promoted without taking into account their consequences on victims and their families.
“However, this was even dimension, you know, sounding like a broken record discourse regarding rehabilitation, negotiation, and whatever else,” he stated.
“What would Sheikh Gumi and the other supporters of this have to say to the families of those that these individuals have slaughtered? ” he questioned.
He further stated that discussing reconciliation with armed organizations should not excuse the slaughter of innocent people.
Yusuf stated, “Or has he overlooked the command in the Holy Quran about those who took up arms and murdered innocent people, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, who are non-combatants, who are not battling you, who are helpless people? “
