Anthony Iwuoma
President Muhammadu Buhari has slammed the door on possibly granting amnesty to bandits and insurgents in the country as well as warning Nigerians against ethnic profiling of criminals.
The president made his stand known on Thursday in in a meeting of 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, at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, in Kaduna.
The meeting was essentially held to discuss the mounting insecurity and criminality in the country, especially the activities of bandits and the nuisance posed by almajiri in the North.
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President Buhari, who spoke through his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, rejected the prospect of negotiating with bandits and insisted his government would continue to deal decisively with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers across the country.
He also cautioned Nigerians against ethnic profiling of criminals, adding that criminals should be treated as criminals and not by their tribe.
According to him, the new service chiefs have been charged to invent fresh strategies to successfully deal with the security challenges.
“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.
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“Criminals are criminals and should be dealt with accordingly without resorting to ethnic profiling.
“I have already tasked the new Service Chiefs to devise new strategies that will end this ugly situation where the lives of our people continue to be threatened by hoodlums and criminals.
“I expect that at this meeting, your Forum will also discuss and devise ways of building stronger collaboration with the security architecture and the people in defeating criminality across the region and the nation at last,” the president said.
Also in attendance at the meeting was the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III, who led other traditional rulers from all parts of the North.
Some northern governors, such as those off Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Yobe, Plateau, Sokoto and Kebbi states were present while others were represented by their deputies.
Similarly, 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, attended the meeting.