Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric based in Kaduna has asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to either release Tukur Mamu or charge him to court.
Mamu who was negotiating between bandits and the families of abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train was recently arrested in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
He was arrested alongside his family members on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj.
He was deported back and picked up by the DSS at Kano International Airport.
Gumi’s Reaction: Speaking on his arrest during his weekly preaching at Sultan Bello Mosque, Gumi said Manu’s arrest was unjust adding that the DSS’ action was an act of terrorism.
The cleric citing the law said anybody arrested over an alleged crime needs to be taken to court within 24 hours.
His words: “Take him to court to face trial. Keeping him in custody despite being a family man was just to intimidate him. This intimidation is also terrorism. Arresting people unjustly is also terrorism; just like the terrorists do by going to somebody’s house to kidnap him.
“How can we continue in this situation under a government that is about to wind up? Our hope is for them to finish successfully not in a bad light. It’s not about Tukur Mamu, you all know that whenever they arrest innocent people, I always talk, not to talk of someone that I know and I’m only advising the government to release him so that we can apologize to him to forget what happened.”
He said Mamu’s arrest was God’s way of testing his faith, praying that he would overcome it.