FG To El Rufai: Engagement With Bandits Has Brought Peace To Communities

The federal government has dismissed the allegation to the effect that it’s inducing bandits by paying them money and supplying in them food.

According to the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, which debunked the claim by a former governor of Kaduna state, said the allegation was not in tandem with what is actually happening in the country.

The former governor had on Sunday accused the Tinubu administration of inducing bandits with money, and supplying them with food, in order to keep them calm from attacking communities in the country.

He said the action is part of the kinetic measures by the administration, which he added will backfire, because that is not the language that the bandits understand.

El rufai state, Kaduna has been one of the epicentres of banditry and terrorism in the country.

In its reaction, ONSA said in a statement said the federal government has never engaged in ransom payment to the criminals, stressing that it has indeed adopted non-kinematic measures to ensure that peace reigns, adding that the results of the steps taken so far by the government is very evident to see.

ONSA: “At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.

“On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom. El-Rufai’s allegations are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on ground.

“The result is evident in areas such as Igabi, Birnin Gwari, Giwa, and other parts of Kaduna that once suffered untold terror in Kaduna state but are now experiencing relative peace.”

El rufai had claimed that the federal government is empowering the bandits by inducing them with money and food.

“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits,” the former governor said.

He argued that such measures only embolden the criminals and worsen insecurity. 

“You don’t empower your enemy; you don’t give him money to go and buy sophisticated weapons. That is why the insecurity problem has not gone away and will not go away as long as this policy continues,” El-Rufai added.

The former governor insisted that no serious government must negotiate with bandits, they must be crushed , he said.

“My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all. Let’s bomb them until they are reduced to nothing, and then the five per cent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated,” he stated.