Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, has stated that there are no such things as repentant bandits and that the state believes in returning terrorists who attack innocent people to their creator.

Governor El-Rufai revealed this on Tuesday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and briefed State House media.

The Governor said he was at the White House with the State Commissioner for Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan, to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the recent terrorist (bandit) attack on Kauran Fawa, Marke, and Ruhiya of Idasu Ward of Giwa Local Government Area, Kaduna State, which killed around 40 people.

He stated that the bandits’ whereabouts are not unknown, but that the military is aware of the potential for collateral damage to the civilian community.

He claimed that if security forces were unable to locate the terrorists, the state would be helpless.

The governor stated that he requested the President’s assistance in order to increase the deployment of security troops and conduct a comprehensive operation.

He asked the security personnel to go after the bandits with vigour.

The governor bemoaned his government’s powerlessness in the face of security forces’ failure to track down and apprehend outlaws terrorizing civilians.

“Yes, we receive security reports, we know a lot about the bandits and where they are and their activities,” he stated when asked if there isn’t intelligence to get ahead of the bandits.

“But you must understand that the intelligence has to be acted upon. And if the security forces are unwilling or unable to reach the locations where these bandits are, then there is nothing we can do as a state government.

“Federal security forces are not under our direct control. We support them, we work with them, the intelligence is being provided, but the truth of the matter is that our military and police are very few in number and they are overstretched.”

While the security forces are doing their best, El-Rufai believes that their efforts are insufficient.

“So, you have to understand the limitations that they face before you conclude that they are not doing enough. They are doing a lot. But is it enough? Certainly not. Much more needs to be done,” he said.

“But can they do more with the number of policemen they have and the number of soldiers? I don’t know. We need to ramp up recruitment in the Nigerian Police, we need to ramp up recruitment in the Nigerian armed forces.

“We have too few numbers and our armed forces are overstretched. They are operating in several states, about 32, 33 states the last time we checked, and how many are they?

“So, we must understand the constraint that they face and sympathized with them.

“But with the acquisition of more advanced equipment from Jordan, China, Turkey, and the United States, we expect that the kinetic capabilities of our armed forces will be greatly improved.

“So, we hope to see the end of this insecurity.”

The governor expressed concern about the need to exercise caution when dealing with bandits in order to avoid causing collateral damage to innocent individuals.

He said, “there was a problem. Even if you know where the bandits are, you don’t want to go and bomb all of them because they may have civilians in custody. You may have collateral damage that you may not want right handle. And without the declaration of bandits as terrorists, it might even be referred to as abuse of their human rights.”

According to him, the Federal High Court’s recent declaration of terrorists clears the door for unrestricted combat against them.

He said, “So, no one will be dragged to the international court because you killed bandits. No.”

The governor stated that the state of Kaduna will not negotiate with bandits since it is their policy to kill them all.

The governor stated that the state of Kaduna will not negotiate with bandits since it is their policy to kill them all.

When asked about the perpetrators’ names, he said, “They are bandits. If you want to call them terrorists you can call them terrorists, but we don’t want to confuse them with terrorists that we know, the Boko Haram. IPOB has been declared terrorists. We don’t call them terrorists, we call them IPOB. The nomenclature doesn’t matter.

“What matters is that they are now fair game for armed forces.”

“There is nothing like repentant terrorists (bandits). The only repentant bandit is the one that is dead. Our intention in the state is to kill them (bandits/terrorists), let them go and see God,” the governor declared his stance on repentant terrorists.

He went on to say that there are three sorts of terrorists: Boko Haram, bandits, and the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB and that the court’s recent classification of bandits as terrorists has given the military more capacity to wage war against them.

“What I’m saying is, we call them bandits to differentiate them from the rest but they are terrorists. You can choose any name you want to give them but as a government, I have to call them by a name that everyone understands. They have been declared terrorists, but they have to have a name that everyone can understand and not confuse them with Boko Haram,” he said.