The Pan-northern Socio-political organization, Northern Alternative Forum has applauded the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai over his position against negotiating with bandits who are terrorising the state and other parts of the country.
The Northern Alternative Forum made this known in a statement by its National Chairman, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, saying that the Kaduna State Governor had shown a high level of foresight in rejecting amnesty for the terror bandits.
Ibrahim noted that it is shocking to witness how some individuals disguising as mediators were clamoring for an amnesty for the “beast bandits” terrorizing the nation.
“If we are to raise a question, where are these people when the bandits were killing, kidnapping and terrorizing Nigerians? We stand not to be fooled by any sort of politically motivated advocacy. The call for amnesty is coming at the moment in order to champion a hidden agenda.
“We are now in a digital era, people are wiser than before. Nobody can play politics with National security and expect no retaliation from patriotic citizens of the land. As such, it is the collective position of the Northern Alternative Forum to rally support for Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru el-Rufa’i.” he said.
Ibrahim further added that, “The Northern Alternative Forum wish to register its disagreement with the so called mediators’ position on Nigerian forces fighting the bandits. So far, the record in our possession has shown an increasing success in the fight to safeguard Nigerians from terror bandits. The Nigerian security forces were doing very well.
“It will never yield a positive outcome for a people to link criminality with religion or ethnicity. Doing such will drift us further away from finding a lasting solution. But when we face criminals as criminals, we will be closer to the solution. Emotions, sentiment and prejudice help no one.”
Recall that last week after meeting with the bandits in the forest in Zamfara State, Sheikh Gumi had asked the federal government to use security budget to address the bandits’ demands, claiming that most of them had lost all their possessions to cattle rustling and extortion.
But Governor el-Rufai in an interview with BBC Hausa, said the bandits should not be forgiven for taking arms against the country, stressing that they should also not be compensated.
He reiterated the fact that Kaduna was at war with the criminal elements, pointing out that “my administration is at war with the bandits and so we cannot negotiate. Eliminating them is the only solution to banditry.”
