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Gov Sani insists Kaduna govt didn’t pay bandits to surrender

The Kaduna State Government has categorically denied paying any money to repentant bandits to surrender their arms.
Governor Uba Sani made this disclosure during an exclusive interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday. “We did not give them one naira,” the governor emphasized when asked if the state government made a financial bargain for the bandits to lay down their arms.
“There was no monetary issue at all. Most of them are tired, we sat down with them and asked them, ‘Why do you continue to remain in the bush just attacking our people, kidnapping them?”
According to Governor Sani, the decision by the bandits to surrender their arms was a result of a six-month-long process of engagement and negotiation. “It is a process that took almost six months precisely to reach this position. Birnin Gwari is one of the most critical local governments in terms of banditry, kidnapping and insurgency in the North-West,” he explained.
The governor also noted that the state government partnered with federal security agencies and the office of the National Security Adviser to achieve this breakthrough. “We also partner with the federal security agencies, the office of the National Security Adviser. So it’s a collective effort,” Sani added.
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The Kaduna State Government’s efforts to address the security challenges in the state have been ongoing for several years. The state has been plagued by armed banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency, which have had a devastating impact on the lives of its citizens.
On Thursday, the state government received the first set of repentant bandits in Birnin-Gwari and reopened the cattle market, which had been closed for about 10 years due to insecurity in the area.
However, Governor Sani shied away from answering questions about whether his administration granted forgiveness to the bandits for the atrocities they committed in the past. Instead, he focused on the importance of the disarmament, mobilization, and integration of the repentant bandits, which are currently in process.
The Kaduna State Government’s efforts to engage stakeholders and build trust among the various communities in the state are crucial in addressing the security challenges that have plagued the state for years. As the state continues to work towards finding a lasting solution to the security challenges, the denial of payment to repentant bandits is a significant step in the right direction.
Nigeria has been plagued by armed violence since the 2009 emergence of the Boko Haram group in the Lake Chad basin, in the northeast of the country. Various groups have split from or emerged alongside the insurgency, notorious for several mass kidnappings of school girls, despite a military crackdown.
Armed bandits and kidnap gangs have also spread chaos across the region, alongside sometimes bloody conflicts between farming communities and nomadic herdsmen.
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