Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has shared with the public details how he alongside former President Olusegun Obasanjo successfully negotiated the release of 27 abducted students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State.
Gumi disclosed that he and Obasanjo stood as negotiators in ensuring that the abductors released the students.
He said this when the parents of the affected students paid him an appreciative visit on Thursday.
Bandits had abducted the students from the school premises on March 11, 2021 from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna and were released on Wednesday after 56 days in captivity.
Addressing journalists in his residence during the visit, Gumi insisted 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.”
