Against the backdrop of call on President Bola Ahmad Tinubu to negotiate with bandits by former Zamfara State Governor, the former Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, SGS, Dr. Mustapha Inuwa has said negotiation with the bandits would be futile as they (bandits) won’t accept the negotiation.
Dr. Inuwa who doubles as the Chairman, Amnesty Programme to end banditry in the state, said it is impossible for the bandits to leave banditry and embrace negotiation because of how kidnapping has become lucrative.
He maintained that no legitimate work can fetch them the kind of money they make from the banditry activities.
He suggested use of force as the way out while calling for concerted efforts on the part of both security agencies and the respective Governors of problem states to bring the bandits down on their kneels.
According to him, “I believe it is very wrong advice for a former governor and senator especially from a state worst hit by the activities of bandits to even contemplate negotiating with the bandits despite the atrocities committed by them in these states.
“We tried from 2017 to 2019 but it didn’t work because they are not sincere. We were compelled to go into that because we realized the security agencies were not doing what they ought to do.
So we were under serious pressure from the people as they looked up to us to bring the menace to an end.
And that was why we settled for the non kinetic approach. It lasted for brief period before it failed.
“It failed because, one, they were not sincere and second, because they are not organized and don’t have common leaders whom if you negotiate with can serve as their representatives.
They have rivalry and different groups. It is unlike when you are fighting a group on ideology, where they have a common leader, where you negotiate with him and he leads them.