Prosper Okoye
Nigeria’s former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised government negotiations with armed bandits, saying such deals benefit criminals while failing those affected by the violence.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Mr Abubakar said bandits frequently break the terms of agreements reached with authorities, making the approach ineffective.
“Those peace deals always favour the bandits more than their victims, and they have always fooled the government’s negotiators,” he said.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelMr Abubakar said it was difficult to deter criminal groups when state governors were, in his words, “on their knees begging bandits in the name of peace deals”.
While stressing that he was not opposed to dialogue as a way of ending violence, he argued that negotiations had become counterproductive when armed groups were allowed to dictate the terms.
“Nigerians are no longer impressed by the powerful language of condemnation by the government. They’re more interested in results than rhetoric,” he said, adding that past experience showed that “if rhetoric were enough to deter the bandits, the menace would have ended a long time ago”.
Several state governments in north-western Nigeria, including Katsina, have pursued talks with bandit groups in an attempt to curb attacks and kidnappings.
Katsina State is reported to be facilitating the release of about 70 suspected bandits in custody, a move officials say is aimed at strengthening community-based peace agreements with so-called repentant fighters.
Mr Abubakar, a senior figure in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said President Bola Tinubu’s administration must be held accountable for its pledge to end insecurity.
“As a former opposition party, the APC held the then government to the harshest standards,” he said. “The Tinubu administration must be held to the same standards.”
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He also condemned the abduction of more than 100 people in Kajuru local government area of Kaduna State on Sunday, saying it was worrying that communities were being attacked “unchallenged”.
“It is colossally embarrassing to see non-state actors holding the country hostage and taking people again and again without resistance,” he added.
Prosper Okoye is a Correspondent and Research Writer at Prime Business Africa, a Nigerian journalist with experience in development reporting, public affairs, and policy-focused storytelling across Africa
