Usman Yusuf: We Met Bandits in Forests With Sheikh Gumi During Buhari’s Tenure

Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has said that military action alone cannot end banditry in Nigeria, stressing the need for local solutions to insecurity.

Speaking in an interview with Trust TV News, Yusuf disclosed that during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, he accompanied Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi on visits to nine different forests across frontline states.

“During President Buhari’s tenure, we went into the forest with Sheikh Gumi and his delegates; we went into nine frontline states in the forest, and we met all of these bad guys,” Yusuf said in a video clip from the interview.

He maintained that these engagements highlighted the limits of a purely military strategy and reinforced the importance of dialogue and community-level approaches to tackling insecurity.

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