Controversial Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has claimed that no Nigerian security agency has the right to declare anyone as being a terrorist financier.
The cleric who made this assertion on Wednesday night when he appeared on X space held by Daily Trust added that there was no justification for the arrest of Mallam Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher and others over suspicions of sponsoring terrorist activities in the country.
He said the action taken by Nigerian security operatives could also be tagged as an act of “terrorism”.
Mamu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since he was arrested in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, in September 2022.
The key negotiator between bandits and the passengers kidnapped off a Kaduna-bound train in March 2022 was picked up with his family members on his way to Saudi Arabia for a smaller Hajj.
The Nigerian Government later announced that Mamu and 14 others had been suspected of being terrorist financiers.
Reacting to these developments, Gumi said such a pronouncement is only within the jurisdiction of a court of law and that no agency is legally authorised to make such a pronouncement.
Gumi stated that what occurred between Mamu and the security agency was a clear example of misunderstanding, but said he did not want to comment on it yet because the case was before the court.
He said, “Mamu’s case is in the court. Let’s wait to hear from the court. It’s wrong to resort to media trial. Let’s wait for the court to state if he is a financier or not. I think if he is acquitted, he has a strong case to make on libel.
“Who declares someone a terrorist financer? Is it the court of law or a security agency? Security agency has no right to declare anyone a terrorist financier. The case is already in court, so why are they judging him on the pages of the newspaper? Once a case is in court, you allow the court to decide.”
When asked to clear his name since some Nigerians had been pointing accusing fingers at him too, Gumi said, “I am a public figure; many people come to me. The good, the bad, the ugly.
“As a preacher, I cannot send anybody away, no matter how bad. If you ask, especially pastors, armed robbers come to them and confess but they cannot still take them to the authorities.
“What I know of Mamu and his arrest is a misunderstanding between him and the committee that was supposed to deal with the release of some victims. But since the case is in court, we hope the court will be just to him.
“That is what we wanted all along; take him to court. Instead of incarcerating someone and levelling phantom allegations against him. Bring your proofs, and if Mamu is found guilty, he should have full-fledged punishment. But as of what I know, let’s wait for the court.”
“Take him to court to face trial. Keeping him in custody despite being a family man was just to intimidate him. This intimidation is also terrorism. Arresting people unjustly is also terrorism; just like the terrorists do by going to somebody’s house to kidnap him.
“How can we continue in this situation under a government that is about to wind up? Our hope is for them to finish successfully not in a bad light. It’s not about Tukur Mamu, you all know that whenever they arrest innocent people, I always talk, not to talk of someone that I know and I’m only advising the government to release him so that we can apologise to him to forget what happened,” he added.
