Posted by On Sunday, former senator for Kaduna Central Shehu Sani outlined the problems with negotiating with criminal gangs that prevent state governors and the federal government from doing so.
Sani said that, unlike Boko Haram and ISWAP, bandits do not kill their victims in the name of religion.
His definition of bandits was an armed group with a religious, ethnic, or political objective.
He claimed that bandits have no central authority but instead work in loosely affiliated criminal bands.
The political analyst tweeted: “Dialogue with bandits will not work for these three reasons; they are not an armed movement founded for the pursuit of any religious, ethnic, or political causes, other than extortion by atrocious blackmail, abductions, and cold-blooded murder of innocent citizens.
“Two, they are not governed by a single authority but rather work in ad hoc groups and criminal gangs; three, money is their driving force; they kidnap and murder for financial gain.
“Bandits are different from Iswap and Boko elements, who abduct and terrorize residents in the name of religion and kill them in large numbers.
It’s pointless to engage in conversation with Bandits. It was a mistake that governors who attempted it eventually came to lament.