The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has warned the opposition against politicising insecurity, insisting that bandits cannot simply be “carpet-bombed out of existence or to submission.”
The governor gave the counsel at the public presentation of “Where I Stand,” a book written by the late Abubakar Gumi and translated into Arabic by Ibrahim Jalingo.
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The event, organised by Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS), was held on Saturday, where Mr Sani represented President Bola Tinubu as Special Guest of Honour and also served as Chief Host.
He stressed that insecurity in the North-west differs from Boko Haram’s insurgency in the North-east, which is ideologically driven, noting that poverty, unemployment, and neglect of rural communities drive banditry.
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Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, while speaking on a Channels TV programme last week, accused the Kaduna State Government and the Federal Government of “romancing” with bandits by giving them money instead of deploying military force to crush them.
He insisted that non-kinetic measures cannot resolve the menace.
Mr Sani said, “Insecurity can’t be resolved solely through the use of firearms. Whoever makes such a claim is only playing politics. We must fear God, and stop deceiving the people because that approach will not work.”
The governor insisted that Nigeria’s security manpower has shrunk despite the country’s rapid population growth.
“In 1970 after the civil war, Nigeria had about 300,000 soldiers, but today they are less than 250,000 while our population has increased by over 100 million. How then can anyone say that guns alone will solve the problem? It is impossible,” he stressed.
The governor lamented the absence of security personnel in many parts of the North-west.
“If you travel to Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, or the forests of Katsina, you can go for about 50 kilometres without meeting a single policeman, not to mention a soldier. We have vast areas in this country without any security personnel,” he said.
Explaining the Kaduna Peace Model, he said the initiative relies on non-kinetic strategies and is community-driven, involving traditional rulers, religious leaders, and other stakeholders.
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He cited Birnin Gwari as an example, where the Emir championed the return of peace.
“We spent six months trying to understand the root causes of insecurity. We discovered that poverty, unemployment, lack of schools, hospitals, and commerce in rural areas pushed people into crime,” he explained.
The governor rejected attempts to heap blame on the federal government.
“We should not deceive our people by saying President Tinubu or National Security Adviser Ribadu is responsible. We should not expect them to go to Giwa, Birnin Gwari, or the Dansadau forest to solve the problem for us,” he declared.
Reaffirming his personal commitment, he added: “We were elected by the people, and it is our duty to do everything possible to protect our people. I decided to embark on the non-kinetic approach to address insecurity in Kaduna State because it’s me that God will hold responsible in the hereafter.”
