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 met 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?”

Mr Musa’s remarks came on the heels of the Senate’s resolution, on Wednesday, that President Muhammadu Buhari regime declare the bandits as terrorists and engage them as such.

The lawmaker says he agrees with the decision of the senate, explaining that the federal government must take a position for the security operatives to strategise their attacks in terrorist zones.

“The federal government have tried all they could to ensure that this menace is controlled, they’ve given the opportunity for these bandits to surrender, some of them say they’ve surrendered and went back, after talking to the government that they’ve surrendered they went back and we felt there is a need for the federal government at this time to take a position, and that position is declaring this bandit as terrorists,” he said.

Mr Musa said the security situation in Niger State has worsened as terrorists who moved into Zamfara have returned to escape military action going on in the neighbouring state.

The senator explained: “It seems they all went back to Zamfara, which seems to be the epicentre of it. So, when they all went back to Zamfara, and the government decided to hit them in Zamfara, they’re now spreading. We had some peace in the last two months, but now, they’re back and they’re very ruthless. So, we also want the government to be very ruthless with them.”