Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has sent a strong message to Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmed Gumi and others he described as sympathisers of terror and bandit networks. He warned them to stop offering overt or covert support to groups undermining national security.
Speaking in Maiduguri on Wednesday January 14, Musa rejected attempts to frame terrorism and banditry as regional, ethnic or religious brotherhood. In his words, “A friend of a thief is a thief.”
His remarks were a direct response to previous statements by Gumi who had described armed bandits in the forests as “our brothers” and suggested that society could not function without them.
Musa argued that there is a difference between compassion and complicity and that empathy should never be used to legitimise violence. According to him, such narratives give moral cover to criminal networks that have displaced families, ruined livelihoods and inflicted suffering across many communities.
He added that terrorism thrives not only on weapons but also on rhetoric, influence and silence. Those who defend, excuse or shield criminals, he said, must bear responsibility for the consequences.
Musa concluded that the path forward for Nigeria is clear: stand with the law and the nation or be counted among those enabling criminality.
