Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday revealed how he had told President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists since 2017.
The governor noted that declaring them as terrorists would allow the military deal with the bandits accordingly without contradicting international laws guiding such operations.
El-Rufai disclosed that he has been telling the federal government since 2017 to declare the marauding bandits as terrorists, has written several letters on the same issue but his requests have not gotten any favorable response so far.
He made his mind known on the issue while receiving the State Security Incidents Report for the Third Quarter of 2021 and said, “We in the Kaduna State Government, have always aligned with the declaration of bandits as insurgents and terrorists. We have written letters to the Federal Government since 2017, asking for this declaration because it is the declaration that will allow the Nigerian military to attack and kill these bandits without any major consequences in international law.”
”So, we support the resolution by the National Assembly and we are going to follow up with a letter of support, for the Federal Government to declare these bandits and insurgents as terrorists, so that they will be fair game for our military. This is the view of the Kaduna State Government,” El-Rufai said.
The governor urged the federal government to work with the state governments to recruit 1,000 youths from each of the 774 local government areas in the country to boost the current number of security agents in the fight against insecurity.
“This will be a surge in numbers that is unprecedented since the civil war. An influx of 774,000 new boots on the ground will be a significant blow against criminals and an employment boost,” he said.