The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has described as baseless the claim by former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, that the government coordinates a policy of payments and offers incentives to bandits.
In a television interview on Sunday, El-Rufai alleged that the “ONSA coordinates a policy of payments and offers incentives to bandits.”
“This claim is baseless. At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.
“On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom. El-Rufai’s allegations are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on the ground,” a statement from the ONSA said on Monday.
The statement said that from inception, the government adopted a dual strategy—decisive kinetic operations alongside community engagements aimed at addressing local grievances.
It said the results of the strategies were evident in areas such as Igabi, Birnin Gwari, Giwa, and other parts of Kaduna that once suffered untold terror but are now experiencing relative peace.
The statement, which was signed by Zakari Mijinyawa for the Office of the National Security Adviser, added that military and security agencies had captured and eliminated notorious bandits, who were widely reported in the media.
It read, “In Kaduna alone, known kingpins who once terrorised residents such as Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka, among others, were eliminated. Only recently, leaders of Ansaru, who previously established bases in Kaduna, were apprehended.
“These successes came at a cost; some of our brave officers paid the supreme price. For a former governor of a state in the person of El-Rufai to deny these sacrifices on national television is both unfair and deeply insulting to the memories of our security personnel.”
It urged El-Rufai and all political actors to desist from dragging national security institutions into partisan battles, adding that the fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.
