- Says Govt Will Never Negotiate With Bandits
From Segun Amure, (The New Diplomat’s Abuja Bureau)
The Nigerian government on Thursday has insisted that it will not engage foreign mercenaries in the fight against insurgents and other forms of insecurity in different parts of the country.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), stated this during the weekly ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.
Monguno said the government would rather deploy all necessary forces to eliminate criminals in the country.
Reacting to a question from journalists on renewed calls by North-east governors on the need by federal government to engage foreign mercenaries in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, Monguno said Nigeria has both the personnel and equipment to achieve victory over these internal security challenges.
“The President’s view and directive is that we will not engage mercenaries when we have our own people to deal with these problems. We have the personnel and resources, and the President has given a new lease of life to the Armed Forces,” he said.
On suggestions by some individuals and groups to enter into negotiations with bandits, kidnappers, insurgents and other categories of criminals, the NSA ruled out negotiating with criminals.
Monguno reiterated that the government will apply the weight of law on bandits and other criminals who have been unreliable and caused pandemonium in the society through their various attacks.
His statement reads, “While the government is not averse to talking with these entities, it also has to fully apply its weight. You can’t (negotiate) with people who are unreliable and who will continue to hurt society. We will apply the full weight of the government to deal with these criminals.
“These are not people looking for anything that is genuine or legitimate; they’re just out to take calculated measures to inflict pain and violence on innocent people. We must deal with them the way they need to be dealt with. We will fully assert the government’s will.
“We are also focusing on the associated dimensions of the banditry and terrorism: Illegal Drugs, the flow of small arms & light weapons, and Illegal mining in places like Zamfara. These are some of the scenarios fueling the violence, and we are already tackling them decisively,” he said.
Monguno further revealed that Nigeria and its neighbours had been receiving foreign cooperation from Western countries, in the form of intelligence tips, in the fight against criminals within the region.
“There’s a Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit, comprising US, UK, France working with us and our neighbors. They’ve been supporting us with intelligence. For us what’s most important is acting on the intelligence—that’s why we’re investing in equipment and assets”, he said.
He also said the recent changes made by President Buhari to the security architecture “gives us a ray of hope that things will be adjusted, so that whatever we do as regards securing Nigeria will be in conformity with the aspirations of the people.”
Reacting to why the government has been silent on Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic cleric, who has been calling on government to grant insurgents amnesty, Monguno said he has met and interacted with him briefly in Kaduna at the zonal town hall meeting with service chiefs, but he was still waiting for the cleric to come forth.
The NSA also disclosed that between March and December 2020, the military successfully took out 2,403 insurgents in the North East.
Also, recall that Jimoh Ahmed Ayinla, a peace scholar and security expert had in December 2020, urged the government to weigh the consequential effects of inviting and relying on mercenaries in the fight against terrorism, insurgency, and Boko Haram.
Ayinla, who is a lecturer at Kwara State College of Education, stated this in an interview with some journalists in Ilorin the state capital.
He warns that as a sovereign nation, Nigeria’s integrity should not be compromised for whatever reason, rather, he says the government should provide more modern war equipment and better welfare packages for the members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, as incentives to further motivate them to tackle the insurgents headlong
His statement reads, “It is when all these are religiously carried out that the menace will be drastically reduced. Nigeria has a sovereign nation, it’s integrity should not be compromised to any external forces. The government should rather provide modern war equipment and proper welfare packages to the armed forces,” he said.
Ayinla admonished Nigeria’s security chiefs to stop unfolding strategies to be employed in combating the menace, adding that “urgent steps are needed in reappraising the present strategies which could not bring the required result. There is the need to map out more effective and efficient methods of fighting the Boko – Haram and other related crimes in Nigeria.”
