A former secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony N.Z. Sani has said that the Kaduna State government lacks the capacity to end banditry and kidnapping through the use of force, but negotiations are not a viable solution either.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Mr Sani argued that the decentralised nature of banditry in the state makes negotiation ineffective.
“There is this truism that when you kill one man, you would be charged for murder; if you kill ten people, you would be examined for insanity; and if you kill a thousand people, you would be invited to Geneva for peace talks, not because the comity of nations likes the killings but because they want to stop further killings,” he stated.
He suggested that the state’s willingness to dialogue with criminals reflects its inability to use force to end the crisis. However, he warned that negotiations could encourage more violence by rewarding bad behaviour.
“We also have different types of insecurity, like banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and armed robbery. We also have clashes between herders and farmers.
“Negotiation would only reinforce Danegeld’s theory of rewarding bad behaviour, as the government would be making concessions to the bandits,” he said.
Instead of negotiations, Sani urged the federal government to prioritise security by recruiting, training, equipping, and motivating more security personnel to combat the crisis effectively.
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