By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, yesterday ruled out amnesty again for bandits terrorising the North West zone of the country.
Lagbaja, who stated this at Army headquarters, Abuja while playing host to the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, called on the governors to give troops a free hand to eliminate all the criminal elements.
He asked governors in the North-West region for a free hand to eliminate terrorists.
Lagbaja warned the criminals to flee the country with immediate effect, saying they would be given close marking and blocked from entering other parts of the country if they attempt to flee North West.
“Your Excellency, I think we need to look at this amnesty programme. The criminal elements have proven to be incorrigible. So, the issue of amnesty has created an avenue for them to regroup and re-organise and launch attacks,” Lagbaja said.
Lagbaja was responding to a recent call by the former governor of the state, Sani Yerima that bandits should be given amnesty.
Yerima had asked President Bola Tinubu to negotiate with terror gangs operating in Zamfara State and other parts of the Northwest of the country.
He said the negotiation he was advocating was similar to what the administration of former President Umar Yar’Adua did with militants in the Niger Delta, which gave birth to the amnesty programme.
*Come to our aid, Zamfara, Plateau govs beg military
Earlier, the Zamfara State Governor cried out to the Nigerian Army to come to her aid over the rampaging activities of bandits and other criminal elements in the state.
Lawal revealed that Zamfara has become a killing field, as there is hardly any day that people are not killed or kidnapped.
Expressing frustration over the level of banditry in the state, the governor also appealed to the COAS to deploy more troops to the state to help suffocate life out of the criminal elements.
Noting that Zamfara is the most affected state in the federation, security-wise, the Governor, averred that if the security threat in Zamfara is solved, the entire northern region would enjoy peace.
He said, “Let me confirm to you that my government is ever ready to assist the troops in whatever capacity towards helping to combat this criminality that is making life extremely difficult for my people in Zamfara State. Let me also emphasise here that Zamfara has become a home for criminality.
“If we’re able to take charge of Zamfara State, I can assure you that the entire northern state will be at peace. Criminals find themselves so comfortable in the area and therefore they operate within the northern states, which include Katsina, Niger, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara.
“You are in a position to bring an end to this manner that is making life difficult for the people of Zamfara State and Nigeria at large and as I said, and I repeat, if we ever take care of Zamfara, believe me, 80 per cent of this banditry will be solved.
“I’m here, and I’m appealing to you to use whatever is necessary, whatever it takes, to come to our aid and bring an end to this menace that is affecting every aspect of human endeavour in the states. That is the essence of my trip to this office to officially complain to you and to tell you the difficulties Zamfara is facing, which has become a daily routine.
There is never a day that goes by without either somebody being kidnapped or people being killed in the state. We are appealing to you, we believe in you and we believe you can do this.”
Also, the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, said the state was at a challenging juncture, calling on the military to surmount the challenge.
Mutfwang told the Army Chief that he was at the Army Headquarters primarily to congratulate him on his well-deserved appointment.
He concluded that the Plateau, cannot attain the desired peace without the help of the Nigerian military.
In his response, Lagbaja told the Plateau governor that the Nigerian Army would stop at nothing to provide combat enablers to troops to bring an end to the intractable crisis on the Plateau.
He equally tasked the governor to convoke a confab for critical stakeholders in Plateau to dialogue to bring about lasting peace in the area.
