The call for amnesty for bandits and other form of criminals in the North has received a hit by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.
President Buhari waved down the possibility of his administration granting amnesty to criminals and bandits in the country. He said his government will deal decisively with all form of criminalities in the country.
He made his position known through his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, who represented him, in declaring open a joint security meeting of the Northern State Governors’ Forum, Northern Traditional Rulers Council and delegation from the Federal Government.
The President also directed the security chief to come up with a clear strategy on how to deal with all forms of criminalities.
He said: “I must appreciate the efforts of the 19 Northern States Governors’ Forum for their contribution towards national growth and development, especially in this challenging period in our nation’s being where certain fundamental corporate existence needs to be frankly deliberated upon and actionable resolutions reached.
“At the same time, we are confronting the various dimensions of security challenges that continue to slow down the emancipation of our people from poverty and economic deprivation. The Government shall continue to deal with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens across the country.
“Criminals are criminals and should be dealt with accordingly, without resorting to ethnic profiling. I have already tasked the new Service Chiefs to devise new strategies that will end this ugly situation where the lives of our people continue to be threatened by hoodlums and criminals.”
Recall, the popular Islamic cleric, sheikh Abubakar Gumi had called on the federal government to grant amnesty to bandits and other’s perpetrating crimes against the country in the North, which he later extended to other parts of the country in a recent interview he granted with a leading, electronic media.
In his words, the cleric said granting amnesty to the bandits is far better than engaging them in “operation fire-for-fire”. In addition, Gumi said amnesty to the bandits would help calm down the tense insecurity situation in the country.