Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, on Monday stated that President Muhammadu Buhari-led government will not negotiate with bandits.
The minister stated that due to the complexity of the issue, state governments should be allowed to decide whether they would dialogue with the terrorists or not.
The minister in an interview with Daily Trust said in the case of Boko Haram terrorists about 3000 of them have surrendered in Borno State
He added that their leaders also surrender, but the federal government would not announce it so that it will not lead to mutiny within the leadership of the terrorists.
Mohammed said, “Dealing with bandits is a very complex issue. Remember that many of the governors agreed at the beginning to interact with the bandits but they went back and became more vicious. Sometimes, they will agree that if they are given an amount of money, they will stop, but when they are given, they will use it to buy arms and ammunition.
“I think we should leave it to individual state governments to decide on whether they are going to enter into any agreement with bandits or not. The federal government cannot decree by fiat. Unknown to many people, there are lots of things going on behind the scenes where bandits are surrendering.
“If you look at Boko Haram, I think about 3,000 adherents have surrendered in Borno State. Some we make public, but especially their leaders, we don’t make public, because if you make that public it will lead to mutiny within the leadership of the terrorists or bandits. We are doing everything to bring these things under control.”
Mohammed further stated that proscribing bandits as terrorists have helped in the fight against insecurity and have made it possible to use excessive force against them.
“When I was drawn in this controversy, I said whether it is a terrorist or bandit, you do not spare any of them. But I think when you now term them, terrorists, it gives the military and the security authorities more latitude on how to deal with them. It’s just like when students are protesting, you have to handle it with a kind of care and not use live ammunition and things like that.
“If they remain bandits, there’ll be a lot of restraint on the part of the police and the military, but when they become terrorists, then, there’ll be less restraint. I think that has helped a lot. Even some of the platforms the Air Force has acquired before cannot be used against ordinary bandits, but now that they’ve been declared terrorists, they can use it against them. That is why you can see improvements in the fight against bandits.”
