The renewed advocacy on amnesty for terrorists, and its contrary views, should give an inkling of the arduous task before the new National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Muyiwa Adeyemi writes.

Amnesty requests for bandits and terrorists alike have opened new vista in the conversation about tackling insecurity in the country.

Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, and ex-governor of the state, Ahmad Sani Yerima, recently pleaded that Federal Government should forgive the bandits and treat them as former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did to Niger-Delta militants by granting them amnesty and rehabilitation.

To Yerima, who met with President Bola Tinubu on the matter, the Nigerian military and other security agencies have the capacity to deal with bandits squarely, noting that the collateral damage for moving against them with force may be high and devastating.

He said insecurity in the Northwest region and other parts of the country is largely driven by poverty and illiteracy.

Lawal and Yerima are not the only Nigerians seeking non-kinetic approach to stopping bandits from kidnapping, maiming, raping and killing innocent Nigerians and destroying their properties, the Progressive League of Youth Voters (PLYV) has argued that military onslaught against bandits in the past have not yielded the desired results and appealed to the Federal Government to consider political solution to re-integrate them beck into the society.

However, some Nigerians have, however, kicked against the option, considering why bandits should be treated with kid gloves. Only this year, Zamfara State recorded 1,490 abductions and about 430 victims, who did not pay ransom were killed.

In fact, a report released by the committee set up by the state government to review the security situation in the state revealed that 4,983 were widowed, 25,050 children were orphaned and 19,340 people were displaced between 2011 and 2019. The report added that over N3 billion was paid to bandits as ransom for 3,672 people abducted during this period.

The bandits were also alleged to be providing security to illegal miners of gold in the state.

However, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has faulted Yerima, for advising President Tinubu to negotiate with bandits, noting that bandits have no legitimate reason for their nefarious activities unlike the Niger Delta, militants whose agitations for resource control and good governance was legitimate and reasonable.

The President of the Forum, Yerima Shettima, who blamed past governors in the zone and previous service chiefs for not doing enough to stop incessant attacks, urged the new service chiefs to work in synergy to win the war against banditry and other related crimes within the Northwest and other troubled parts of the country.

Specifically, Birnin-Gwari Local Council of Kaduna State natives lampooned Lawal and Yerima for advising the Federal Government granting amnesty to bandits terrorizing states of Northwest zone. The natives, under the aegis of Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressives’ Union (BEPU) called on President Tinubu to ignore the call by the ex-governor and rather seek international cooperation in addressing insecurity in Nigeria.

BEPU chairman, Ishaq Kasai, said negotiating with bandits would amount to granting legitimacy to criminal elements in the country. He said: “Engaging in negotiations with bandits will never yield significant positive outcomes, because past experiences have demonstrated that criminal elements, such as bandits, often exploit negotiations to buy time, regroup and strengthen their positions.

“They view negotiations as a sign of weakness on the part of government, which emboldens them to continue their violent activities,” adding “we want to draw attention of Mr President to the fact that going for such negotiation will bring a setback and distraction in his administration’s perceived determination to bring lasting solution to insecurity bedeviling Nigeria.”

Chief Edwin Clark, who criticised Zamfara State politicians for equating former Niger–Delta militants with northern bandits, described the comparison as “obnoxious and criminal.”

Clark said: “My first reaction to those who compare the murderous blood-sucking bandits from the northern part of the country, with the legitimate agitators from the Niger Delta, is that of pity at their ignorance on national affairs.

“Amnesty worked in the Niger Delta primarily because its militants anchored their fight on the sound economic and federalist principle of resource control.

“With their people alienated from the oil wealth extracted from their land, and the environmental degradation in the region, the agitators had legitimate demands.

“But the blood-thirsty bandits ravaging the North have no legitimate, political or economic claim that Nigeria is obliged to countenance because of the bandits, killer herdsmen, Boko Haram/ISWAP/Ansaru, and IPOB, the 2023 Global Terrorism Index ranks Nigeria as the eighth most terrorised country in the world.”

The elder statesman noted, “These terrorist groups slaughtered 63,111 Nigerians between 2015 and May 2023, the National Security Tracker estimated. Therefore, any deal with them translates to rewarding mindless criminality.

“As some Northwest states discovered, negotiating with amorphous groups of bandits with no central command or leadership has no positive outcome.”

But the Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who first mooted the idea of amnesty for bandits blamed poverty and ignorance for their criminal act. He, however, called for the provision of more social amenities to curb banditry in Nigeria.

He said: “We all know that bandits initially don’t kill people like that, they kidnap people to get money. So, what has metamorphosed and turned them into a Frankenstein, a monster that is now trying to kill people just like that for the pleasure of it?

“What we need to do is to build homes and schools, give locals, animals to breed, give them medical attention, planting, and engage the local community.

“This is all that we need to do with the bandits to get them to pipe down and drop their weapons. This is all that we need and we don’t need to wait for the government.”

He believes that once their needs are met, the bandits would drop their weapons and stop the killings in the country.

For Gumi, who has negotiated with bandits several times on behalf of the government, he insisted that there is no difference between former Niger Militants and Northern bandits. He noted that bandits picked up kidnapping from oil militants in the Niger Delta region.

He said: “They learned about kidnapping from MEND. I do not see any difference. They were the first victims of rustling, their cattle are their oil.”

There are those who believe that the former governor was just looking for a soft landing for the bandits because of the declared resolve of the new service chiefs and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to deal with them.

The Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, who campaigned against amnesty for bandits and terrorists, said efforts to grant them pardon and rehabilitation, which were instituted in many states, failed to achieve the desired result.

Indeed, in 2014, former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, granted amnesty to the bandits. It did not take time before they dumped the agreement. Immediate past governor of the state, Bello Matawalle, equally granted amnesty to the criminal gangs classified as terrorists by the Federal Government, but none of these deals survived the test of time.

In 2016, a former governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, negotiated with the bandits in his domain, but the hoodlums reneged on their pledge to turn a new leaf. They returned to their “business” after an exhausting process of negotiation from the government.

But all eyes are on Ribadu to be decisive in his approach to tackle insecurity, which has paralysed social and economic activities in some northern states. Stealing of crude oil in the Niger State, activities of separatists groups in the Southeast, surge in kidnapping in Southwest and terrorism by Boko Haram in Northeast are all begging for solutions. All these challenges must keep Ribadu on his toes.

To security experts, Ribadu should have both political and military solutions to the crises. It was also said that the inability of security forces to gather intelligence has festered insecurity in the country and this is why many Nigerians have applauded the appointment of Ribadu as NSA by President Bola Tinubu.

As the pioneer chairman of the Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ribadu charted a new course for fighting crime by making use of intelligence and collaborated with other anti-graft agencies in many countries in the world. And this earned him international recognition and awards.

As NSA, Ribadu is expected to effectively coordinate activities of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Army, Navy, Police, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other critical stakeholders to keep the country safe from enemies from within and outside.

Speaking shortly after he resumed office, Ribadu said: “We will stabilise this country, we will secure our country and we will make Nigeria peaceful because time has come for this country to enjoy peace, order, and rule of law just like any other country in the world.

“Securing the nation is a continuous process. We will look at what has been done and build on it. We will count on your support while discharging our responsibilities.
“The President has a huge commitment to securing every inch of our country. We will work with all stakeholders to deliver on this vision. This enormous task of securing our country is that of all Nigerians, and all friends of Nigeria,” he said.

Ribadu has solicited the full cooperation of all servicemen and women, and by extension all Nigerians. He said there was a need to unite to accomplish the administration’s quest for a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria.

The position of the NSA is very critical to security in Nigeria and the credibility of Tinubu’s administration. Section 4 (2) of the National Security Agencies Act, 1986 states that: “The Coordinator on National Security shall be a Principal Staff Officer in the Office of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.” Section 4(3) defined the role of the Coordinator on National Security to include: advising the President, on matters concerning intelligence activities of the (created) agencies; making recommendations in relation to the activities of the agencies to the president as contingencies may warrant; correlating and evaluating intelligence reports relating to national security and providing the appropriate dissemination of such intelligence within government using existing facilities as the President may direct; determining the number and level of staff to be employed by each agency established by the Act; and doing such other things in connection with the forgoing provisions of this section as the President may determine.”

Nigeria is traditionally used to appointing retired military officers as the NSA, although there have been a few retired police officers appointed too in the past. Police officers, who had served as NSA, such as Gambo Jimeta and Ismaila Gwarzo, served military regimes. But civilian administrations since 1999 have appointed only retired military officers.

This is, perhaps, due to the erroneous belief that security is the exclusive preserve of the military, police and other law enforcement agencies. While it is accurate that the security challenges confronting Nigeria are largely insurgencies that would require military engagement, the Nigerian military is adequately well equipped with the manpower to handle these challenges. What is required is an executive coordination centre, which the office of the NSA provides.

A security expert, Mr. Isa Azinge, said: “I think that the President is right in appointing Ribadu as NSA because of his professional background as a lawyer and ability to process intelligence to achieve a desired result. He has proved this as EFCC chairman and he is still very much relevant in this field. All that is needed is cooperation of the service chiefs to function very well and political support from President Tinubu.”

The Director-General of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Issa Aremu, expressed confidence that Ribadu has the requisite experience and exposure to work with the security chiefs and the public to improve on the security of the country.

“In democracy, there is a need for a permanent sense of ownership by the citizens through constant support for elected leaders in legitimate anticipation of reciprocal good governance.”

Founder and Chief Executive Connected Development (CODE), Hamzat Lawal, expressed optimism that Nigerians would soon notice improvement in the security situation of the country because Ribadu is bringing a wealth of experience, expertise, and a proven track record in the field of intelligence.

His words: “With an extensive background in intelligence, Ribadu possesses the necessary skills to effectively navigate complex global challenges and safeguard our nation’s interests. This collaborative approach will, undoubtedly, enhance our nation’s ability to address emerging threats, promote diplomacy, and ensure the safety of our citizens both at home and abroad.”