The Kaduna State Government has said surrendering to Criminals who have laid siege to the State is not an option it can ever consider.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the Special adviser to the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on media and communication, Muyiwa Adekeye.
The State Government says it will not toe the line of some commentators who have resorted to blaming it for asserting that the duty of the state is to uphold the law and not to reward hoodlums for violating the lives, property and liberties of citizens.
He added that thos pushing the narrative have been sharing a video clip of a 2014 interview in which the governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to use all options, including negotiation, to rescue the Chibok girls.
The years since 2014 may have led some people to forget the denial and doubt that defined the FG’s response to the Chibok abductions, especially the initial refusal to acknowledge that it happened. That was the context under which civic pressures were brought on the government which according to it is different to what obtains currently.
Nigeria’s journey since the 2014 Chibok tragedy according to the Kaduna State government has proven that the solution to violent crimes, including terrorism and banditry, is a robust response from the state and its coercive agencies.
It added that the quantum of money paid as ransom following many negotiations with bandits have not stopped kidnappings, reduced their frequency or deterred the criminals.
The experience of many states in the Northwest of Nigeria since 2015 has included cattle rustling, kidnappings, killings and the devastation of communities by criminals.
According to him, several States sought to negotiate their way out of the problems by talking to bandits, paying them money or offering them amnesty.
This has clearly not worked and has only encouraged the criminals to press ahead for a surrender of the public treasury to them which is not in the public interest.
Mass abduction was like in novelty in 2014, But the facts have changed since then.
Negotiations and ransoms have been undertaken, but these have not stopped the criminals but has only encouraged them adding that it is only prudent to review one’s position when the facts change, and the suggestion made by a citizen years ago cannot be taken as the immutable answer to a serious problem which has evolved since 2014, no matter the viral replays of the said video clip.
The Kaduna State Government has been consistently transparent about its security challenges and it has supported and continues to resource the security agencies in the state.
Th State according to the statement is engaging the Federal Government to have security responses that move away from reactive response of repelling bandits towards a comprehensive, proactive offensive that takes the battle to the criminals and uproots them.
As a sub-national, with no direct control of any of the security agencies, the State says it cannot make the task more difficult by giving criminals the resources to acquire more arms.
KDSG adds that it regrets the recent kidnaps and killings of students from tertiary institutions in the state, and sympathizes with their families with whom it shares the aim of the safe return of all the students.
The State says it mourns the dead students and offer condolences to the family and friends of the deceased but adds that the ruthless and heartless resort of the kidnappers to murdering these young persons is part of their effort to further their blackmail and compel us to abandon our ‘no-ransom, no-negotiation’ policy.
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