By Deborah Hassan
Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), has condemned negotiation with bandits and other anti-state actors terrorising the country, saying the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will not engage in such an act.
Monguno, who made the statement on Thursday, March 11, 2021 at a State House Briefing which held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also added that any government which sits at a table to negotiate with bandits without applying ”its weight”, portrays it as weak and incapable.
He said rather than toe that path, the present administration would engage the use of maximum force on bandits and other criminals.
The NSA stated: “The government is tackling the problem of insecurity, we’ve said this many times that there are two phases in solving this problem –the soft approach: talking, negotiating, and so on and so forth.
“While the government is not averse to talking to these entities, these human beings, I have to be very honest, the government has to apply its weight, that force that is required because you can’t even talk with people who are unreliable people, who will turn out to do a different thing and people who will continue to hurt society.”
Monguno further stated that the government wants to rely on all the assets, ”military assets, intelligence assets” in the war against the criminals.
“If along the line, some of them are ready to come out and talk and negotiate, when the time comes, we will do that but for now, we can’t keep on dwelling on ‘Let’s dialogue’”, he stated, adding, “Psychologically, it is not even good for us, it paints the picture of weakness, it paints the picture of incapacity and I, just like the governor of Kaduna State said, do not see any reason why we cannot, with what we have, deal with these elements.
“These are not people who are looking for anything that is genuine (or) legitimate; these are people who are just out to perform atrocities, to take calculated measures to inflict pain, violence on people.
“At the slightest opportunity, they go haywire. And so, it is important for us to realise that we are dealing with people who are not looking for anything, people who without provocation will give birth to their homicidal instincts. We must deal with them the way they have to be dealt with.”