Renowned lslamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, says if found guilty of terrorism, Mallam Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based publisher, should be punished.

Mamu, the lead negotiator between bandits and families of passengers kidnapped from a Kaduna-bound train in March 2022, was picked up on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj with his family members.

Since he was arrested in Cairo, capital of Egypt, in September 2022, he has been in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.

Mamu, alongside 14 others, were listed as terrorist financiers on Wednesday.

Featuring on Twitter spaces organised by Daily Trust on Wednesday, Gumi said the security agencies had no right to label anyone a terrorist financier since the case was before the court.

He said such pronouncement ought to be made by the court, not security agencies.

According to him, what happened between Mamu and the security agency was a clear case of misunderstanding, stressing that he did not want to comment on it at the moment since the case was before the court.

He reiterated, “Who declares someone a terrorist financer? Is it the court of law or a security agency? Security agency has no right to declare anyone a terrorist financer. The case is already in court, so why are they judging him on the pages of the newspaper? Once a case is in court, you allow the court to decide.”

The cleric said God has a way of testing a believer, pointing out that his arrest was God’s way of testing his faith and prayed that he would overcome it.

He suggested that Mamu should be taken to court to face trial, keeping him in custody despite being a family man was just to intimidate him, saying that the intimidation is also terrorism.

“Arresting people unjustly is also terrorism; just like the terrorists do by going to somebody’s house to kidnap him,” he stressed.

DSS had arraigned Mamu before a Federal High Court in Abuja on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing, among others, but he pleaded not guilty.