UNIJOS student abduction: Gumi curses abductors, seeks non-kinetic approach

Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has invoked divine punishment on all those who created, enabled, or are indifferent to the kidnapping crisis in Nigeria.

He made the remarks on Thursday while reacting to the viral video of a University of Jos student, John Arum, abducted by gunmen who are demanding N30m ransom.

Gumi, in a Facebook post, said the perpetrators had lost their humanity and argued that kinetic force alone could not resolve the country’s security crisis.

He cited security experts who maintain that only 25 per cent of counter-insurgency efforts should be kinetic, with the remaining 75 per cent non-kinetic.

“Violence only hardens them; in fact, it is what created them in the first place. I thought that planting empathy in them through correct religious instruction would tame them, most, if not all, not knowing that the violence they exercise is what most people, including some government quarters, believe is the only answer,” he said.

The cleric warned that the threat was real and indiscriminate, and called for urgent, measured action rather than what he described as abuses, sentimental judgment, or conspiracy theories.

“There is no room or time for abuses, sentimental judgment, or conspiracy theories. The danger is real and anybody can be a victim tomorrow,” he said.

Gumi also criticised the slow response of government institutions, warning that the vacuum created by state inaction had turned non-state actors into sources of blackmail.

He argued that Nigeria’s security establishment had consistently prioritised military responses over dialogue, mediation, and religious re-orientation, tools he has long championed as more effective in deradicalising armed groups operating across the North.

The cleric has for years been a controversial but prominent voice in negotiations with bandits and other non-state armed actors, particularly in the North-West, where he has visited camps and facilitated talks between communities and armed groups.

His critics have accused him of granting undue legitimacy to criminals; his supporters argue that his interventions have saved lives and secured the release of hostages where security forces have failed.

He then issued a pointed curse, saying, “May Allah destroy any person who helped in creating this situation or participated in any form, or neglected his or her duty in saving the situation, or is even happy about it.”

Arum, a UNIJOS student, was abducted while travelling to Kaduna. A video of him in captivity circulated widely on social media, showing the conditions under which he was being held and drawing public outrage over the inhumane treatment he was subjected to.

The National Association of Nigerian Students condemned the abduction and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Federal Government and the Plateau State Government to secure his release, warning that failure to act would trigger a nationwide student protest.