The Nigerian government declared on Thursday that it will not negotiate with bandits who are currently terrorizing the country from various locations.
This stance was disclosed by Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), the National Security Adviser (NSA), who spoke with State House Correspondents at end of the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.
The government would rather deploy all necessary forces to eliminate criminals, rather than negotiate with them, Monguno said.
This declaration comes a day after it was revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari had authorized the deployment of 6,000 troops to Zamfara State, which has become the hotbed of banditry in the northeast region of the country.
“The government is tackling the problem of insecurity. We have said many times that there are two phases in solving this problem –the soft approach: talking, negotiating, and so on and so forth.
“While the government is not averse to talking to these entities, these human beings, I have to be very honest, the government has to apply its weight, that force that is required because you can’t even talk with people who are unreliable people, who will turn out to do a different thing and people who will continue to hurt society.
“So, basically, what the government wants to rely upon is to deal with this issue by using all the assets – military assets, intelligence assets to eliminate these people.
“If along the line, some of them are ready to come out and talk and negotiate, when the time comes, we will do that but for now, we can’t keep on dwelling on ‘Let’s dialogue’.
Nigeria is experiencing its worst peace-time insecurity, with bands of criminals roaming the forests from where they kidnap farmers and travelers on the highways. They attack communities and cart away residents and abduct students from schools.
“These are not people who are looking for anything that is genuine (or) legitimate; these are people who are just out to perform atrocities, to take calculated measures to inflict pain, violence on people.
“At the slightest opportunity, they go haywire. And so, it is important for us to realize that we are dealing with people who are not looking for anything, people who without provocation will give birth to their homicidal instincts. We must deal with them the way they have to be dealt with,” Monguno said.
Negotiating with the bandits would present the government as weak and incapable of confronting them, the retired general said.
“Psychologically, it is not even good for us, it paints the picture of weakness, it paints the picture of incapacity and I, just like the governor of Kaduna State said, do not see any reason why we cannot, with what we have, deal with these elements.
He said the government would not succumb to blackmail and the use of criminals by proxies to harass innocent citizens.
“Government wants to use military assets to eliminate them but if along the line, they come out, good. It paints the picture of weakness, incapacity,” Monguno said.
