A former Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Sen. Shehu Sani has opened up on why he thinks President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government and state governors can not dialogue with bandits across the country.
The Kaduna lawmaker shared his views via a tweet posted on a verified Twitter handle which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York on Monday morning.
According to the senator, bandits are not like Boko Haram and ISWAP groups that murder people under the guise of religion.
The sociopolitical commentator said bandits are armed movements pursuing religious, ethnic, or political agenda.
Sani further disclosed that bandits have no single leadership but operate in clusters and as criminal gangs.
Read Also: Sani Yerima Urges Tinubu To Engage Bandits In Dialogue
According to him: ‘Dialogue with bandits will not work because of these three reasons; they are not an armed movement founded for the pursuit of any religious, ethnic or political causes, other than extortion by atrocious blackmail, abductions and cold-blooded murder of innocent citizens.
‘Two, they are not united under a single leadership but operate in clusters and criminal gangs; three, their motivation is money; they kill and abduct for money.
‘Bandits are unlike Iswap and Boko elements whose acts of abduction, terrorist attacks and slaughter of innocent citizens is done under the guise of religion.
‘Dialogue with Bandits is a waste of time. Those governors who tried it later regretted it.’
In a related development, a former governor of Zamfara, Sani Yerima has fervently advocated for President Bola Tinubu to adopt a path of dialogue with bandits, drawing experience from the remarkable efforts made by the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in resolving the Niger Delta militancy crisis.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa on Saturday, Yerima voiced this opinion.
His words: ‘I’m advising the government to, first of all, find time to sit with these bandits, just like they sat with Niger Delta militants in the past. Because a majority of them are Nigerians, even though there are some foreigners among them.’
‘But Nigerians among them can be convinced, as the Niger Delta militants were convinced and empowered to stop.’
‘if that fails, then the government can use force on them wherever they are,’ Yerima added.
Yerima’s insistence on the necessity of dialogue with bandits comes at a critical juncture when the nation grapples with an upsurge in indiscriminate killings and the abduction of individuals for ransom.