A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Federal Government of providing a soft landing for bandits terrorizing different parts of the country.

He alleged that the government was empowering bandits by paying them a “monthly allowance,” sending “food to them in the name of ‘non-kinetic,’” describing it as a kiss-the-bandits policy.

“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.

He faulted what he described as a policy that rehabilitates bandits rather than making them answer for their crimes.

This, he said, was responsible for the lingering insecurity problem in the country.

The former two-term governor stated, “My position has always been [that] the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all. Let’s bomb them until they are reduced to nothing, and then the five per cent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.

“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 it. When the time comes, we will reveal everything,” the former minister added.

There have been growing concerns about insecurity in the country, especially in the north, with recent attacks in Katsina, Benue, and Plateau states.

Although the Federal Government had yet to react to El-Rufai’s claims, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had in July said that Boko Haram attacks, banditry, and communal conflicts in the northern region had reduced drastically in the last two years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, compared to what the situation was in the last administration.

Citing an example, the NSA stated that 1,192 people were killed and over 3,348 kidnapped in Kaduna State during the previous administration, while more than 5,000 people lost their lives in Benue State within the same period.

Giving an instance, the NSA said 1,192 people were killed and over 3,348 kidnapped in Kaduna State during the previous administration, while more than 5,000 were killed in Benue State within the same period.

He made this known while addressing northern leaders at the ongoing two-day interactive session organized by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Kaduna State.

Ribadu said that the successes recorded in the fight against insecurity is as a result of President Tinubu’s directive to security agencies on a unified security approach.

He said that the various security operations across the North-West had led to the release of 11,259 hostages as of May 2025.

He also disclosed that several bandit leaders and their gang members had been eliminated by security forces in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina states.

The NSA had also, in April, asked Nigerians to stop giving money to kidnappers and bandits. (Channels TV)

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