Rev Dr Divine Eches, Chairman of the Imo State CAN, voiced the concerns in an interview in Abuja ahead of the organization's 45th anniversary and Founder's Day on Friday in Imo.
He encouraged the Nigerian government to issue a warning to Sheikh Gumi, claiming that his statements had empowered the bandits, encouraging their cruel deeds in the north.
He said that unless serious steps were done to end the Almajiri system, banditry will continue to exist in northern Nigeria for a long time, wreaking havoc on the people's socio-economic life.
“You can't have the Almajiri way of life and administration in our country for the last 40 years, raising up kids without any links to their families, hometowns, or nationalities,” he added.
These youngmen are strewn about the streets, and you have no idea that one day they would leave the streets and head for the jungle, where they will begin to engage in the abduction trade.
“You can't have the likes of Sheikh Gumi, a religious scholar, walking about advocating banditry in a sane country, and you don't believe this will continue.
That is, nevertheless, what we are witnessing now. We haven't seen anything other than what we've planted thus far.
That (insecurity) has been allowed to go on, and now it will swallow the nation if serious measures are not put into place to pull them out of the streets (Almajiri). Give it a sense of belonging, put it in school, and help it realize its potential.
"These criminals were Almajiri, who used to beg in front of our houses. Nonetheless, we are praying, and God is still supporting our nation. In Jesus' name, I pray that God would continue to guide us."