The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai has again ruled out any talks between his government and bandits.
The governor spoke in the wake of a Monday attack by bandits on UBE primary school at Rama in Birnin-Gwari LGA, where three teachers were abducted.
Recall that popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi had called on the government to grant “blanket amnesty” to the bandits following a series of attacks on soft targets in the north.
However, El-Rufai, who chaired an expanded meeting of the state security council on Tuesday, said that his government would toughen its offensive against the bandits.
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He noted that the people of the state elected him to protect them against criminal elements and he would continue to do so by bringing criminals to justice.
“We will not engage with bandits or kidnappers. Private citizens like clerics and clergymen can do so in their individual capacities, to preach to them and ask them to repent. We also want them to repent but it is not our job to ask them to do so,” El-Rufai said.
He also cautioned herdsmen to jettison the nomadic way of of life.
According to him, the only way for farmers-herdsmen clashes to be averted “is for nomadic herdsmen to live more sedentary lives in order for them to be more productive and give their children education and access to better healthcare”.
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