Abuja (Sundiata Post) – A former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmad Yerima, says that President Bola Tinubu has asked him to make efforts to ensure that there is stability in the bandit-torn North-West state.
Yerima, who spoke with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Tinubu on Monday, said that the crisis will soon be over with his intervention as a father in the state.
“The issue of Zamfara, I am now a father in Zamfara and even Mr President in my interaction this (Monday) afternoon has requested me to put my best to ensure that there is stability in the state and that is what we are doing already. And by the grace of God, we will come together and you will see that all the crises that are going on will be over,” Yerima said.
Zamfara is one of the states terrorised by bandits who attack communities on a regular basis and kidnap innocent citizens for ransom.
Yerima, who served as Zamfara governor from May 1999 to May 2007, and represented Zamfara West Senatorial District between June 2007 and June 2019, said that the best way to handle the issue of banditry is to start with dialogue, adding that if negotiations fail, the government can then go all out to eliminate the bandits.
And I keep on saying that the best way to go about handling the issue of these bandits should be to introduce dialogue first but as I said, if that fails the government will go all out to eliminate them.
“Why I said we should discuss with them is to avoid the collateral damage that may come up if the intensive and extensive military operations are directed, that will be the last option,” Yerima added.
However, a security expert, Bulama Bukarti, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, disagreed with Yerima on negotiation with bandits.
Burkati said that the Federal Government should instead use military force to end any form of terrorism and banditry.
The way to deal with them is to start with the stick because Yerima suggests that we start with the carrot, give them an opportunity to defect or to repent and if they don’t, then go all in with the military. We have tried that before and it did not work.
“What you need to do is to go hard on the military side of things and then after you have used enough military power on them, you may then open the door not for negotiation, for amnesty because you don’t negotiate with terrorists, you don’t negotiate with criminals,” he said.
