Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has raised concerns over who would be willing to engage with insurgents and bandits in Nigeria, drawing comparisons with past peace efforts in the Niger Delta.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Gumi referenced former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, noting that both leaders had direct engagements with militants in the Niger Delta as part of efforts to restore peace in the region.

According to him, those engagements led to programmes that helped reduce militancy and stabilize the area.

Gumi, however, questioned whether similar dialogue with groups such as Boko Haram and armed bandits would be accepted by the public.

“The former President Jonathan visited delta militants in the creeks, so also the former vice president Osinbajo. They all came up with a program to tame the militants. Who is going to visit BH and bandits to tame them without fools castigating them?” he wrote.

His remarks come amid ongoing national debate over strategies to tackle insecurity, particularly the persistent attacks by insurgent groups and bandits in parts of northern Nigeria.