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I   The Department of State Security, DSS, has invited Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, for questioning over remarks he made in a TV interview that allegedly portrayed the Nigerian military in a bad light.  Gumi was invited at the Kaduna office of the DSS, after the military authorities took exception to comments by Sheikh Gumi, alleging that their operatives were conniving with bandits. However, Gumi’s spokesman, Malam Tukur Mamu dismissed the allegation against Gumi, saying there was nowhere in the TV interview that Gumi categorically accused the entire military. According to Mamu, what Gumi said was what people have been saying and “even the soldiers have been saying that there could be some bad eggs among them”. He, therefore, urged the military and the TV company to apologise to Sheikh Gumi and retract their statements against him or else he will seek legal action.

  He stated these during an interview on The efforts to rescue the kidnapped pupils of Tegina Islamic School, Niger State. The bandits had demanded N200m from the victims’ parents, which was later reduced to N150m. Gumi said despite efforts to get the pupils out, the bandits were adamant in their financial demand. He said, “ But we are trying to talk sense to them that these are just innocent schoolchildren. We don’t even have any idea of the condition of the children. We are just saying these are young children trying to study and they did nothing, so why are you trying to take dirty money from their families? This (kidnap of Islamic pupils) actually proves to the nation that the bandits are not really indoctrinated, they are just looking for money and I think that this is a good prognosis. They are not targeting a religion; they are not ideologues, which are difficult to deal with. We should not forget that they are not educated, formally or informally. They are just going about ...

  The mother of the student, Lauritta Attahiru on Tuesday confirmed the development but the police have yet to confirm it.  Attahiru however refused to give details of how her son was released and whether a ransom was paid or not. Some of the parents told the station that the student was released on Saturday after his mother, who is the wife of a retired Army officer from Plateau State negotiated and paid ransom to the bandits privately before they released her son on Saturday. The parents had earlier said the bandits had been negotiating with them individually, asking each of them to pay up to N20 million as ransom, before they later demanded a ransom of N100 million in lump sum and 10 motorcycles on Monday.  The parents have appealed to the government and Nigerians to come to their aid so that their children will be rescued alive. With the release of the student, the fate of the remaining 16 students still hang in the balance. The bandits had threatened to kill them if ...