Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Thursday in Kaduna said Nigeria was under the captivity of bandits.
Gumi spoke during a prayer session organised by Jama’iyyar Matan Arewa for the 62 kidnapped passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train.
The prayer session, which attracted religious leaders from both the Muslim and Christian faiths, was held at the JMA headquarters in Kaduna.
Gumi, who led the Muslim prayer, assured the families of the kidnapped passengers that the prayers would make the captives feel divine presence as God would comfort them.
The cleric urged the Federal Government to give to the bandits what their demands were in order for the victims who had spent over 40 days in their den to regain their freedom.
He said, “Whatever they (the terrorists) want, give it to them so that they can release these people and when they release them then, you are at the liberty, to deal with them the way they deserve because when they have captives, you have to tread with caution so that their captives will not be injured.
“When we pray, we pray for the whole nation because it is not only the families of the victims that are affected, the whole nation is under captivity. So we pray to God to release us from this captivity, release us from this oppression to unite this nation on the right path. This should be our prayer constantly until they are released.”
On his part, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Rev Joseph Hayab, tasked leaders to do the right thing and ensure the safe return of the victims.
“We do not have the power or the resources but we have a God who can do it. The challenge we have is that God has also instituted a leadership, and giving leadership responsibility to do what is right, and that is why we hear people challenging leaders, we are not asking them for anything, we are telling them to do the right thing and just because we are talking to the government does not mean we want to topple the government, we just want them to do the right thing,” he said.
Earlier, the President of JMA, Rabi Saulawa, said the association decided to organise the prayer session to seek God’s intervention for the quick and safe return of the victims and peace of the country in general.
