Bandits: Northern Elders Back Buhari, Issue Directive To Governors

The Northern Elders for Peace and Development (NEPD) have asked Northern governors to follow President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive not to pay ransom to bandits.

In a statement by their National Coordinator, Engr. Zana Goni, kicked against calls to grant amnesty to bandits.

Goni pointed out that the payment of ransom and negotiation with bandits were two major ingredients behind the increased activities of terrorism in the country.

He urged Northern governors to use the money meant for amnesty and negotiation in procuring technologies that would aid the fight against insecurity.

“We advise that they should use the money for the supposed amnesty programme, ransom and negotiations to acquire state-of-the-art technology with a view to ending insecurity on our land once and for all,” he said.

In another development, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday disclosed that his administration will not negotiate with bandits, adding that clerics can negotiate with the criminals.

This is coming after bandits abducted 39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state.

El-Rufai while speaking at the security meeting with the State Security Council and traditional rulers at the Council Chambers of Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Tuesday said his job as governor is to enforce the law and help to prosecute people who commit offences.

“We will not engage with bandits or kidnappers. Private citizens like clerics and clergymen can do so in their individual capacities, to preach to them and ask them to repent.”

“We also want them to repent but it is not our job to ask them to do so.”