“Unfair, deeply insulting,” Ribadu fires back at El-Rufai over alleged bandits’ payments

By Ayorinde Oluokun

Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu has described claim by former Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai that the Federal Government has been offering money and other incentives to bandits to get them to drop their nefarious activities as “false, baseless, and deeply insulting to the sacrifices of Nigeria’s security forces.”

The NSA said this in a statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa and made available to journalists on Monday morning.

EL-Rufai made the claim during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday.

Kiss The Bandits

The former governor who was defending his achievements in the security sector while he was in office alleged that the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA was empowering bandits by paying them monthly allowance and giving them foodstuffs.

“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits. “It’s not the government of Kaduna State; it’s a national policy driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser, and Kaduna is part of it. Kiss the bandits; that’s the new policy,” Rufai, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“You do not negotiate from the position of weakness. You don’t empower your enemy; you don’t give him money to go and buy sophisticated weapons. That is why the insecurity problem has not gone away and will not go away as long as this policy continues.”

“They can deceive, they can cover up, they can do propaganda, but those that live in Katsina, those that live in Zamfara, those that live in Kaduna, those that live in those states, they know what is happening.”

“Let the governor or anyone come and deny. When the time comes, we will reveal everything,” the former minister added.

False, Contradict Verifiable Facts On Ground

But the ONSA said in its statement on Monday morning that at no time has it or any arm of government under the Tinubu’s administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.

The office in the statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa said on the contrary, it has consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom.

“El-Rufai’s allegations are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on ground,” ONSA said as it acknowledged that the government rom the outset adopted a dual approach of “decisive kinetic operations alongside community engagements aimed at addressing local grievances.”

ONSA said this approach has resulted in peace visible in places like Igabi, Birnin Gwari and Giwa local governments of Kaduna, which were once plagued by bandit violence but are “now experiencing relative peace.”

It also added that the elimination of notorious bandit leaders including Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari and Boka, as well as the dismantling of Ansaru terror bases in Kaduna and the arrest of their leaders were also examples of the successes of the strategy.

“These successes came at a cost. Some of our brave officers paid the supreme price. For a former governor of a state in person of El-Rufai to deny these sacrifices on national television is both unfair and deeply insulting to the memories of our security personnel.”

The NSA’s office also warned political actors to desist from dragging national security institutions into partisan battles.

It added that the fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.”