TETFUND Researchers Seek Death Penalty For Bandits, Informants

In a bid to reduce bandit attacks on communities across Nigeria, TETFUND researchers have called for strict penalties such as the death penalty for bandits and their informants within the community to serve as deterrent to others.

The researchers led by their principal investigator, Professor Olajide Akanji, identified lapses in government responses to bandit attacks in communities to include the practice of releasing and returning arrested bandits back to communities which have undermined trust in the legal and security frameworks, deterring individuals from reporting suspicious activities due to fear of reprisal.

This was part of the research recommendations presented at an online validation workshop from university researchers who investigated Armed Bandits and Banditry in Nigeria: History, Character and Panacea using TETFUND Grant (TETF/ES/DR&D-CE/NRF/2020/HSS/03/VOL.1).

The participants who tasked President Bola Tinubu and state governors on rehabilitation and resettlement of victims, also called on the president to charge the service chiefs to deepen the use of non-kinetic rather than kinetic approaches.

According to them, there is “lack of implementation of decisions reached during investigations, leading to a disconnect between government promises and actionable results.”

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The added that poor/lack of evaluation and adaptation of governments’ responses to evolving banditry threats; delays in aid delivery to victims, inadequate support for long-term rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of banditry are major challenges to national security.

They also called for increased collaboration among traditional institutions, security agencies, and community leaders to nip activities in the bud.

They found that there were reported successes where interagency collaboration was used in the fight against bandits.

The other researchers are Prof Rasidi Okunola, Prof Bentina Mathias, Prof Bukola Adesina, Dr Nathaniel Danjibo, Prof Adebimpe Adenugba and Prof Oludayo Tade), advised governments at the federal and affected states to ensure that adequate support for long-term rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of banditry are made.

The researchers who collected data from the Northwest, North central, Southeast and Southwest zones noted that there was the need for regular deployment, monitoring and surveillance of communities prone to bandit attacks.