Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has insisted that he will not negotiate with bandits, stressing that he will fight bandits until they surrender.
The governor was reacting to a Friday sermon by a popular scholar in the state, Sheikh Ahmed Kanoma, who advised the government to once again try the reconciliation process for peace to reign in the state.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Kanoma advised the state government to re-invite all the bandits’ leaders and sit with them to find a lasting solution to banditry in the state.
Lawal however said there was no reason to reconcile with people that did not keep to their promise or value human lives.
He stated, “I still maintain my stand on non-negotiation with bandits as I announced earlier on. How can you reconcile with somebody who goes out to kill and kidnap people just for the sake of money? How many times did the past administrations reconcile with the bandits? Did that work?
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The governor however stated that if the bandits wanted reconciliation, they should come out of the forest and surrender their weapons.
He added, “If they want reconciliation, let them surrender their weapons and come out for negotiation. If they have not done so, I will pursue them and fight them until they give up. I repeat, there is no reconciliation with somebody who does not value lives.”
The governor appealed to politicians to stop playing politics with security, which he described as an evil wind that would blow nobody any good.
He stated, “I am calling on the people of the state, particularly the politicians to stop playing politics with security. I want to make a passionate appeal to all the former governors of the state to please come out and join hands with my administration so that we can rescue our state which has been groping in the dark due to security challenges.”
The governor urged the people of the state to continue praying for peace to return to the state.
