Governor Nasir el-Rufai won’t Allow Criminals Take Over the State

Governor Nasir el-Rufai won’t allow criminals to take over the State just because they request ransom. Complying with their needs only encourages them.

The Governor of Kaduna State, on Tuesday the 27th of April, 2021, declared that his government will not surrender the state to criminals. He explained that experience has revealed that paying the ransom or negotiating with criminals will only encourage them to continue in such acts.

He also noted that mass abduction was like a new thing in 2014 under former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, but the facts have now changed compared to those years, as negotiations and ransom payments have not stopped the criminals but merely made them do even worse.

In a statement issued by Muyiwa Adekeye, the special adviser on media and communication to the governor, He gave context to a video clip where Governor el-Rufai was seen advocating for all options to ensure the release of the abducted Chibok girls back in 2014.

The statement  further explained that President Jonathan-led administration denied or doubted that the Chibok girls abduction was real, adding “That was the context under which civic pressures was laid on the government.’’

‘’The journey of Nigeria since the 2014 Chibok tragedy has proven that the solution to violent crimes, including terrorism and banditry, is a major response from the state and its coercive agencies,” he said.

The statement justified el-Rufai’s current decision not to pay the ransom or negotiate with bandits, arguing  that “it is only right to review one’s position when the facts change, and the suggestion made by a citizen some years back cannot be taken as the permanent answer to a major problem which has developed further since 2014, no matter the viral replays of any video clip.’’

“The amount of money paid as ransom based on many negotiations with bandits have not in any way stopped kidnappings, reduced the gravity of their activities or ultimately stopped the criminals,’’ he noted.

Furthermore, the governor also noted that the Kaduna State government has been very transparent about its security challenges, emphasizing that ‘” it supports and will continue to provide resources to security agents in the state.’’

The statement recalled that Kaduna State has been “communicating with 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, we cannot increase the difficulty of this task by giving criminals the resources to acquire more arms,’’ he said.

The governor, therefore, regrets the recent kidnaps and killings of students from tertiary institutions in Kaduna state and sympathizes with the parents and loved ones of the victims who wish for their children to return home.

“We mourn the dead students and we offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” he said, reminding that “the evil and merciless resort of the kidnappers to killing these young persons is part of their effort to further their blackmail and force us to abandon our ‘no-ransom, no negotiation policy,”

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