Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a well-known Islamic cleric, has threatened to lock Aso Rock if his child is kidnapped.

He said this in an interview with BBC Pidgin on Friday.

On Wednesday, the cleric urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay the abductors of Greenfield University students who were abducted in April the N100 million requested by the abductors.

On Friday, Gumi addressed the issue once more, saying that the federal government would choose between saving students’ lives and paying the N100 million.

“Life versus material; that is how you will look at it. It is the absolute responsibility of the government to protect lives. Now we have lives or N100 million at stake and these lives of 17 innocent young children,” he said.

“I can’t imagine if my child is there. I can never keep quiet. I will go and lock Aso Rock, if my child is there. They are my children too.

“What is N100 million? So, what I’m saying is, free these children then the field is open for you to whatever action you have. It is between bandits and N100 million. I do not want the struggle between bandits and lives.

“This is just simple logic. It does not require any rocket science. How can you play with lives? You can play with your money, but you can’t play with peoples’ lives. They just went there to study.”