Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic cleric, has revealed how he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo successfully negotiated the release of 27 abducted students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Kaduna State.
Gumi revealed that he and Obasanjo acted as negotiators in getting the abductors to release the students.
He said this on Thursday, when the parents of the affected students paid him a heartfelt visit.
Bandits kidnapped the students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna, on March 11, 2021, and released them on Wednesday after 56 days in captivity.
During the visit, Gumi told journalists in his home that the fight was between the bandits and the government.
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 government institutions and taking innocent children.
“Having understood that, we came to the conclusion that this is not a hopeless situation and that we can really go in and negotiate for the release of these children, which we did after so many ups and downs.”
