Some northern leaders have said the only way there can be a lasting solution to the problem of insecurity in the country is to clear the forests of bandits. They argued that it will be foolish for the government to think of negotiating with the bandits as suggested by the former governor of Zamfara state, Mallam Sani Yerima in view of the past negotiations with the bandits which they refused to respect. They therefore called on President Bola Tinubu to take the fight against insecurity in the country to the door step of the bandits in the forests.
Sufficiently motivated, well trained and equipped security personnel needed — Anthony Sani
Elder statesman and former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony N Z Sani,said, “any thought of negotiation with terrorists is derived from the adage that if you kill one person you would be charged for murder; if you kill ten people you would be examined for insanity. But if you kill hundreds of people, you would be invited for peace talks in Geneva not because the comity of nations likes the killings but in order to stop further killing. I am not sure Nigeria has reached that level that would make negotiation necessary.
All the government needs to do is to set its priority and have enough number of well trained and equipped security personnel, sufficiently motivated to take the fights to the door step of the bandits in the forests and secure the nation. I am not sure if negotiation with bandits can be productive and helpful, considering the fact that bandits do not have common leadership and central command structure across the country. The groups are independent of each other. As a result, any resolution or agreement reached cannot be binding on all the different groups of bandits”.
Clearing our forests of bandits, the only development project we need — Malam Ruwangodiya
Former Special Adviser to the immediate past Katsina state governor, Malam Bashir Usman Ruwangodiya, on his part said the people of the area have been left between the devil and the deep blue sea. According to him, “the only development project we need particularly in the northwest region now is for President Bola Tinubu to clear our forest of bandits, whichever way he deems fit, to bring a lasting solution to our neighbourhood. Our major problem in Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna is this insecurity. If we can have this banditry wiped away, I think that will be the best we can say democracy has done for us. There are over 1001 groups of bandits in the forests, which among them are we going to discuss with?
That is one of the problems we have in Katsina. If you discuss with one camp, another one will tell you they are not part of that group, therefore, you can not trust these people. If you say government should go for dialogue and amnesty, you have to consider the past. Several attempts by different state governments were made in the past including Katsina state, we negotiated with them for about three times. The same thing was done in other states, but these people are still operating, they have refused to stop.
So, if you now say you want to repeat the same thing, it will look foolish. But even if it will be done, then there is need to change the strategy as no special strategy was applied in previous negotiations. So, if the president can initiate something different, my appeal is for the government to do the needful. They have all the security apparatus at their disposal; they have the strategies; they have the manpower and the resources. So, they know what to do.
Concerns of victims, terrorists must be addressed to ensure lasting peace — Ibrahim Katsina
On his part, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Katsina, who a former Special Adviser on Security Matters in Katsina state said the Federal Government should adopt a multidimensional approach to end banditry. Katsina said: “In a security situation of this nature, you have to look at both the victims and the terrorists. If you give amnesty to the terrorists what about the victims? Whatever the government plans to do must be multidimensional. The concerns of both the victims and the terrorists have to be addressed to ensure lasting peace.
So, it is not the issue of amnesty that matters, it is about doing the right thing that will end the problems. First and foremost, they have to look at the factors that led to the crisis. That is what the government should address first. The factors that led to why we are fighting today must be looked at. So, if you grant amnesty without addressing those factors, we will go back to square one. That was the mistake we did before. You don’t even require any amnesty if you address the factors. But if they are not addressed, whatever is done will end up increasing the symptoms responsible for the crisis.
