The senator said Mr Gumi should be invited to provide details of the bandits he has been meeting in forests.

Islamic cleric Ahmed Gumi should be invited by security agents for questioning over his affiliation with bandits, says Niger East senator Mohammed Musa.

Mr Musa made the statement while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today show Wednesday evening.

He mentioned that Mr Gumi has been meeting with these bandits in the forests and he should be able to provide the federal government with information that could help to neutralise their operations.

“I won’t say we know them (bandits). Just as we said, they have cells and they have a kind of leadership structure in their cells,” he said.

“I would recall that one of the renowned Islamic scholars, Sheikh Gumi, was at a time going into the forests to meet with these people.

“I think somebody like Gumi should be asked how he has contacts to reach these people. And if he can reach these people, why is it that he has not been able to help the government to get these people neutralised?”