Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has stated that negotiation is ongoing with the abductors to ensure release of the remaining 16 students of Greenfield University, Kasarami, Kaduna, having convinced the gunmen not to kill any of the students.
After killing five of the students, the kidnappers had threatened to kill the remaining students, if their demands were not met but must have been convinced through the negotiations to respect and ensure the sanctity of the remaining 16 students.
Sheikh Gumi made known their efforts in securing the release of the remaining students of Greenfield University when the parents of the kidnapped and released Afaka students paid him a thank you visit on Thursday for his role in securing the release of their children.
The parents, who were led by their Chairman and Secretary, Usman Abdullahi and Friday Sanni, thanked the Islamic cleric and begged him to help convey their appreciation to former President Olusegun Obasanjo who worked alongside the cleric in the struggle to bring back their children from bandit’s then.
Fielding questions from journalists after the visit, Sheikh Gumi said, “the role myself and former President Olusegun Obasanjo played in the release of the 27 Afaka students is the role of mediators, because the fight is not between us and them, but between the bandits and the government.
“What we understand is that these people are trying to attack the government by attacking the government institutions and taking innocent children. Having understood that, we came to the conclusion that, this is not a hopeless situation, we can really go in and negotiate for the release of these children, which we did after so much ups and downs.
“But in the long run, a conclusion was reached and these children are out. So, we are happy that, all of them are out and none was killed.
“The talk with the Greenfield University students’ abductors is also going on, because we are concerned about them too. You know they threatened to kill all of them after a particular deadline, but after talking to them, they are now lowering their bar.
“So, we are thankful they have stopped killing the students. And we are still negotiating with them. I hope this Afaka case will also encourage people to know that there is hope in negotiation to release the children.”
When asked about the reported swap of bandit for the Afaka students, Sheikh Gumi neither confirmed nor denied it, saying, “I cannot confirm that, but I can quote the Governor of Kaduna state when the children of Chibok were kidnapped by Boko Haram, he said ‘it is the duty of the government to use whatever means possible to save the lives of Chibok girls’.
“This is a general rule that life is more precious. Now, I am happy that, 27 lives have been saved,” the Islamic scholar said.
