Former Zamfara Governor Sani Yerima that President Bola Tinubu speak with bandits in an effort to bring back long-term stability and security to the nation.
This was said by Yerima during his Monday meeting with President Tinubu at the State House.
He said, “A lot of bandits have been arrested and killed, and I’m not saying government should just continue to just negotiate indefinitely. No, I said invite them.
“There are people, who repent in all religions – Islam, Christian, Judaism, with the fact that God, who created us once you repent after committing offences, after committing sins he forgives you, so there’s no way you can say Nigerians should not be forgiven if they repent.
“If they repent, they should be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society and then measures should be taken to avoid reoccurrence of this menace.
“But, if they don’t the government has enough power, enough resources, the military, the security have enough capacity. I have confidence in the Nigerian security that they have enough capacity with the political will and support of the government to handle this matter. So, dialogue is part of governance,” he said.
Remember that Yerima previously urged Tinubu to engage in negotiation with bandits in the same way that the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did with terrorists in the Niger Delta.
Yerima, in an interview with BBC Hausa on Saturday, had said, “I’m advising the government to, first of all, find time to sit with these bandits, just like they sat with Niger Delta militants in the past. Because a majority of them are Nigerians, even though there are some foreigners among them.
“But Nigerians among them can be convinced, as the Niger Delta militants were convinced and empowered to stop.
“If that fails, then the government can use force on them wherever they are,” he said.
Yerima’s call for discussion with bandits follows an uptick in the number of random killings and kidnappings of citizens for ransom around the nation.
Even still, some of the bandits terrorizing Nigeria, according to the former governor of Zamfara, are foreigners.
Remember that Zamfara state adopted sharia law 23 years ago thanks to Yerima.
Following a Zamfara Sharia Court decision, Bello Buba Jangebe had his leg amputated during Yerima’s rule in 2000 for stealing a cow.