By Miracle Ogunde
Residents of Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, troubled by bandits have appealed to the federal government not to yield to the pleas of former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Yerima, to grant amnesty to bandits terrorising states in North-West zone of the country.
The natives, under the aegis of Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives’ Union, BEPU, berated the former governor for calling for amnesty for bandits and implored President Bola Tinubu to ignore the call by Yerima and instead seek international cooperation in addressing insecurity ravaging the country.
Yerima had visited President Tinubu on Monday in Abuja, where he advocated that the Federal Government should negotiate with “repentant” bandits and consider granting them amnesty like the late President Umaru Yar’Adua did for the Niger Delta militants.
However, the BEPU, in a statement released on Tuesday by its chairman, Ishaq Kasai, maintained negotiating with bandits would amount to granting legitimacy to criminal elements in the country.
“Engaging in negotiations with bandits will never yield significant positive outcomes because past experiences have demonstrated that criminal elements, such as bandits, often exploit negotiations as a means to buy time, regroup, and strengthen their positions.
“They view negotiations as a sign of weakness on the part of government, which emboldens them to continue their violent activities,” Kadai said.
The group stated further that past experiences showed that negotiation with bandits never worked, most especially in a country like Nigeria.
“We want to draw the attention of Mr President to the fact that, going for such negotiation will bring a setback and distraction in his administration’s perceived determination to bring lasting solution to the insecurity situation bedeviling Nigeria,” he added.
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