The Kaduna residence of controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, was gutted by fire on Saturday, February, 12.
But no life was lost in the inferno as efforts were made to put off the fire. The cause and details of the fire incident were unknown.
The cleric has since confirmed the incident, saying, “it was God’s will and the cause of the fire was unknown because there was no electricity supply when the incident happened.”
Pressmen present at the scene of the incident could not get details as everyone seemed to be concerned about putting off the fire first and avoiding casualty from the inferno.
The 61-year-old controversial Islamic cleric is known for mediating for armed bandits.
Gumi had visited bandits in the forests of Zamfara and Niger states, provided medical treatment to them, and urged the federal government to offer them a blanket amnesty similar to that granted to terrorists in the Niger Delta.
Below are five things to know about Sheikh Ahmad Gumi:
Bloodline
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is the eldest son of an Islamic scholar and the former Grand Khadi of the Northern Region of Nigeria, Abubakar Mahmud Gumi.
He was born in October 1960 and he is a Mufti and Mufassir at the Kaduna central Sultan Bello mosque.
Military Career
Ahmad Gumi attended Sardauna Memorial College (SMC) for his senior secondary education, and later, Ahmadu Bello University where he studied medicine. Upon graduation, the Islamic scholar moved to Saudi Arabia to further his Islamic education at the Umm al-Qura University where he studied Islamic Jurisprudence and Tafsir.
Sheikh Gumi was enlisted into the Nigeria Defence Academy and served in the Nigerian Army Medical Corp (NAMC) as a medical officer and retired as a captain.
Negotiation with bandits
The former army captain had been in the news following his peace missions to many bandit hideouts in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states and how he facilitated the release of victims especially the 27 students abducted from a forestry college in Nigeria’s Kaduna State in March last year.
The scholar had come under attack by many Nigerians including the Buhari administration for his position on bandits.
Staunch Buhari’s critic
Sheikh Gumi minces no word when it comes to the criticism of the Buhari administration.
In 2019, the cleric called for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resign on the alleged failure of his government.
He also debunked the rumour that he was critical of the government of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) government because of his sympathy for the opposition the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
When the federal government banned Twitter last year, Gumi urged the government to be mature in accepting criticism.
He said, “The Federal Government should show more maturity in its actions, they can’t fight the media. The Federal Government should have a wide chest to accept criticism.
“They should not fight the media; platforms like Twitter, Facebook and other social media have given people the opportunity to hear from both sides.