Niger state’s Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello has ruled negotiation with bandits amid an influx of bandits who enter into the state through the Benin Republic border.
Addressing State House reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on the rising insecurity and infrastructural decay in the state, Bello said he ruled out negotiating with the criminals because they don’t keep to any agreement. He added that he once reluctantly negotiated with the bandits, but it never produced any positive result.
The Governor who alleged that “the bandits are Fulanis that have no one to control them even their parents”, said the menace of bandits in the state had become a source of worry to the government.
Bello revealed that the bandits come to the state through the neighbouring Kaduna and Katsina states, and also added that local security had been helpful in curtailing the activities of the criminals who are invited by some locals.
He said;
“We are going to be ruthless with village heads found wanting in this regard. We arrested bandits from Sudan and Mali and they were recruited through social media.”
