President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the Federal Government will not pay ransom to terrorists and bandits, stressing that the government understands the geographical terrain of the forests where criminal groups operate.

 

Speaking on the country’s security challenges, Tinubu said every event teaches new methods, opens the eyes of the authorities, and challenges them to examine and re-examine the country’s security architecture, strategy, and operational map.

 

He said:

 

“Congratulations on the rescue and success in your state. I think we succeeded with your support and prayers, and I agree with you that we should commend the men and women of the armed forces for their excellent performance.

 

On behalf of them, I accept your message, and I will forward the same message on.

 

As we emphasize the question of security, each event teaches us new methods, opens our eyes, and challenges us to examine and re-examine our architecture, our strategy, and our map of operations.

 

And you would have seen, we’ve given a geographical and numerical answer to the challenges. We refuse to pay ransom. We have the geography of the forest. We know what it is.

 

And in answer to it, you will see that from eight divisions now, we are moving to 12 divisions to shorten the response time, to give that response time the teeth that is needed for us to defeat terrorism and banditry.

 

It is very necessary, and we are doing so.”