President Muhammadu Buhari has ruled out the possibility of negotiating with bandits and granting them amnesty.
The president’s comment was made at a meeting attended by the Governors of the 19 Northern States, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, Chief of Staff to the President, Prof . Ibrahim Gambari, the Inspector -General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, Director General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi , as well as the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, held in Kaduna on Thursday.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III led traditional rulers from all parts of the north to the meeting held at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House.
Other attendees at the high powered meeting were northern lawmakers from both chambers of the National Assembly represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ahmad Idris Wase, who stood in for the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, leaderships of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders ’ Forum among others.
Governors of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Yobe, Plateau , Sokoto and Kebbi States were present while others were represented by their deputies .
The essence of the meeting was to discuss the troubling security challenges occasioned by banditry and other related crimes as well as the almajirinci menace in the northern states.
President Buhari who was represented at the meeting by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, ruled out the possibility of negotiating with bandits, saying that his administration would continue to deal decisively with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers who had made life hellish for Nigerians.
Buhari also asked Nigerians to stop the ethnic profiling of criminals , adding that criminals should be treated as criminals . He noted that his administration would continue to deal decisively with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens across the country.
Buhari added that he had tasked the new service chiefs to device new strategies that would end the ugly situation where the lives of Nigerians were being threatened by hoodlums and criminals.
He said,
“This meeting is coming at a time when the nation is making steady progress in addressing the many challenges impeding development and progress.
“We are providing critical infrastructure such as roads , railways , airports among which are critical to economic prosperity of our people as well as opening up economic opportunities for our citizens to pursue legitimate aspirations that grow the economy.
“At the same time, we are confronting the various dimensions of security challenges that continue to slow down the emancipation of our people from poverty and economic deprivation.
“The Government shall continue to deal with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and other criminals constitute innocent threat citizens across the country.
“Criminals are criminals and should be dealt with accordingly without resorting to ethnic profiling.
