Granting amnesty to terrorists, bandits failed us – COAS

Taoreed Lagbaja, chief of army staff (COAS), has revealed that amnesty granted to terrorists and bandits in the beleaguered northeast and northwest failed to achieve its objectives.

He said to Zamfara state governor, Dauda Lawal, who paid him on Wednesday.

According to Lagbaja, the amnesty programme instead gave the terrorists and bandits the opportunity to regroup, reorganise and attack citizens.

He said, “We also have the issue of the amnesty programme that has been instituted, and which has failed not only in Zamfara, but so many other states of the north-west,” Lagbaja said.

“So, I think we need to look at this issue of the amnesty programme because the criminal elements have proven to be incorrigible.

“The issue of amnesty has created an avenue for them to regroup and reorganise to launch attacks on our defenceless citizens. So I think we need to look at that.”

The COAS equally told the governor that he had ordered troops deployment and had released funds needed to reactivate unserviceable platforms, essential to boosting troops’ operations in the state.

He expressed an observation that the Zamfara crisis is a mix of farmer-herder clashes, ethnic confrontations and the quest for economic empowerment driven by mining activities.

“We will not have a situation where some people constitute themselves into outlaws and just go into communities and kill children and defenceless women,” he said.

“By working on this with the state government and other critical stakeholders, we can eliminate these outlaws and reduce the insecurities by a significant percentage.

“So I want to appeal to you your excellency that as we come up with this strategy to address the issue of the Yan Sakai and other regional groups, the state government should be disposed to the implementation of the measures that we will recommend.

“So that together, we will address the activities of these criminal elements.”

In his response to the COAS, Governor Lawal revealed the insecurity in the state was huge and impossible for him to tackle alone.

He said, “I will say without mincing words, that Zamfara is the state that is facing the most challenge in the area of insecurity today.”

“Therefore, for me, being the number one citizen, part of my responsibility is protecting lives and properties, but I cannot do this alone.

“I, therefore, need the support of the chief of army staff and his entire team in bringing peace to Zamfara, as well as Nigeria in general.”

Lawal, a former banker with First Bank of Nigeria and political greenhorn, defeated then incumbent Bello Matawalle, who was seeking reelection.