Kaduna-based cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said that herdsmen are killing Christians in retaliation for attacks launched against them by Christian communities.

Mr Gumi, a self-appointed advocate for bandits and killer herdsmen, made this claim in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday.

“The Christians at ‘fault lines’ in war with herdsmen, do also attack and counterattack. They kill and they are also killed. We regret all loss of lives. Don’t talk of Tafawa Balewa, Yalwan Shandam, Kafanchan, Zangon Kataf, Kaduna crises, etc.,” Mr Gumi said.

The cleric added, “There is no Christian genocide. I was in Kano, Lagos and Ibadan in the last two days. Christians are going about their business. They are in power, economy and security outfits.”

The cleric warned against foreign intervention to combat insecurity. 

“The only option left is to utilise our national resources equitably to educate, develop and protect all Nigerians, herdsmen included. Any foreign military intervention would only worsen the precarious situation, as nobody can control these outlawed groups on both sides.”

Recently, Mr Gumi claimed he was told that Christians were burying empty coffins and recording the process to stage Christian genocide.