Kastina: Stop Making Reassuring Noises – Mailafia Attacks Army

The Nigerian Army has been advised by the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, to stop making reassuring noises and secure the release of students abducted from the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, last Friday.

Recall that bandits last Friday kidnapped the student few hours after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in the state.

Mailafia in his reaction to the incident noted that bandits must be treated as terrorists because they are enemies of the state.

The former Deputy CBN Governor stated this while speaking on Arise TV on Monday.

Mailafia said, “My heart goes out to the parents who must be going through a traumatising, agonising time.”

“The security forces must do everything they can. We’ve heard some reassuring noises from the Army, saying that they have zeroed down on the exact location of the bandits and where the children are being held.”

“All those children must be brought back alive and brought back to their parents. This is not a time for braggadocio. This is not the time for machismo. This is the time to ensure that we bring them (the students) back safely.”

On the prospect of a negotiation with the bandits by the Governor Aminu Masari-led government, Mailafia said, “I don’t expect that the negotiations will be done in the open but a lot of underground work must be done and there must be enough inducement and enough of backups.”

He called on the Buhari-led government to reach out to countries like Russia and Israel for support to combat the terrorism and banditry in the country.

“I don’t know why we have not spoken to Russia. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has found a rigorous way of dealing with terrorists. Putin does not negotiate with terrorists. We should talk to Israel; we should talk to countries that have dealt with terrorism. We should talk to countries willing to help,” Mailafia stated.

Meanwhile, the Army has vowed to secure the release of the students without injuring any of them.