President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged to disregard Ahmad Yerima’s advice of negotiating with bandits.
The call was made by the Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives Union (BEPU).
Politics Nigeria reports that the former governor of Zamfara had recently urged the president to dialogue with bandits.
While making the call, the former governor proposed rehabilitation programmes as part of the ways the government can integrate the bandits into society.
However, Ishaq Kasai, BEPU chairman, slammed Yerima over his statement.
According to him, those advocating for dialogue lack the understanding of the structural formation and divergent goals of the armed bandits.
He said negotiating with bandits will not yield positive outcomes.
“To successfully bring an end to armed banditry business in Nigeria, all bandits’ camps in our various forests must be dislodged as anything short of this will not address or bring a lasting solution to the problem.”
“Engaging in negotiations with armed bandits will never yield significant positive outcomes because past experiences have demonstrated that criminal elements such as armed bandits, often exploit negotiations as a means to buy time, regroup, and strengthen their positions.
“They view negotiations as a sign of weakness of government, which emboldens them to continue their violent activities.”
He revealed that previous dialogues with bandits in some northwestern states did not yield any positive results.
“In fact, all the communities and governments that entered into such negotiations with the bandits later regretted it,” he said.
“Therefore, we want to draw the attention of Mr President to the fact that going for such negotiation will bring setback and distraction in his administration’s determination to bring lasting solutions to the security situation bedevilling Nigeria.
“Negotiating with the bandits will also send a dangerous message to Nigerians, particularly rural dwellers, signalling the government’s incapacity, weakness, and official acknowledgement of parallel governments within the Nigerian state.”
