Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, has dismissed the idea that bandits are repentant after they are arrested by security operatives, insisting that the only repentant bandits are the ones killed.
Governor El-Rufai said this to State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
Kaduna State has witnessed a surge in criminal activities in recent times and the governor, who was accompanied by Samuel Aruwan, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, briefed the president on the recent attack which led to the death of 40 persons.
According to the governor, the bandits should be “allowed to see God” after their action on the battlefield rather than being spared and incorporated into the amnesty programme operated by the Nigerian Army.
He said: “There is nothing like repentant terrorists. The only repentant bandit is the one that is dead. Our intention in the state is to kill them (terrorists), let them go and see God.”
Governor El-Rufai also said the whereabouts of the bandits are not hidden but that the military is wary of the collateral damage it could cause the civilian community.
He stated that the recent declaration of bandits as terrorists has given the military more power to wage war against them.
He subsequently urged the president to deploy more security operatives in troubled areas to enable a comprehensive operation.
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