The Minister of Information and Culture in Nigeria has disclosed that bandits and criminal fundamentalists are more willing to listen to religious leaders as mediators than the government.

El Hadji Lai Mohammed said on Friday that renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gumi was in order when he met ,earlier in the week, with a group of fighting men in Zamfara State .

He said “It is not unusual for a respected cleric to have the confidence of (approaching) outlaws or bandits,” the minister said on Friday during TVC’s ‘This Morning’ show.

He added: “As a matter of fact, they are probably ready to listen to him more than they are ready to listen to the government. They are probably ready to believe him more.

“So, it is not unusual for him to act as a bridge between government and the outlaws in an attempt to find solution.

Gumi had visited camps of the bandits in the forests of Zamfara State to dialogue with them.

His words: “Let there be peace; you all have a legitimate concern and grievances, and I believe that since the Niger Delta armed militants were integrated by the Federal Government and are even in the business of pipelines protection, the Federal Government should immediately look into how something like that will be done to the Fulani to provide them with reasonable means of livelihood including jobs, working capitals, entrepreneurship training, building clinic and schooling,” Sheikh Gumi had told the bandits during the visits.

Gumi said that from what he had seen and heard from the gunmen they appeared to him as insurgents more than bandits.

The outspoken cleric later visited Governor Bello Matawalle to brief him on his mission.