Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Federal Government of deliberately empowering armed bandits through policies that provide them with monthly allowances and food supplies under the guise of non-kinetic security strategies.
Speaking on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, El-Rufai described the approach as a “kiss-the-bandits policy” driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
“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 minister of the Federal Capital Territory maintained that negotiations and incentives for bandits were counterproductive.
“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 insisted.
El-Rufai further claimed that residents of northern states such as Katsina, Zamfara, and Kaduna are aware of the alleged government-backed appeasement.
“They can deceive, they can cover up, they can do propaganda, but those that live in Katsina, those that live in Zamfara, those that live in Kaduna… they know what is happening,” he said.
Challenging the authorities, he added: “Let the governor or anyone come and deny. When the time comes, we will reveal everything.”
