At last, Buhari goes tough on bandits, declares non-state actors cannot overrun Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari at the National Security Council meeting on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, declared tough actions against the bandits ravaging the northwest and ridiculing the Nigerian military. The National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Babagana Monguno, at a post meeting media briefing declared that non-state actors cannot overrun the Nigerian state. The NSA revealed that the government has intelligence that some individuals are making capital from the kidnappings in the northwest, adding that the security agencies also have same intelligence on those making financial fortunes from the kidnapping by bandits.

President Buhari who had insisted that bandits deserve no amnesty but should face the law, as well as declaring Zamfara a ‘no-fly zone’ and banning all mining activities in Zamfara State.

The National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno ((rtd), during media interaction after the National Security Council meeting presided by President Buhari at the State House, Abuja, maintained that government will no longer sit back and watch non-state actors cause violence and threaten national integration, noting that no government allows watching when the sovereignty of a country is under threat.

The NSA warned that people who hide under the guise of intervention wearing the coat of political, ethnic, or religious leaders, to destabilize the country to desist from such acts henceforth.

General Monguno explained that a no-flight zone, or air exclusion zone declared in Zamfara, is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly.

The NSA declared that all non-state actors have been placed under surveillance as the Federal Government will not hesitate to use kinetic means to restore normalcy in the country. He maintained that the defence and intelligence organizations have been placed on alert, being mandated not to allow the country to slide into a state of anarchy.

President Buhari, the NSA said, at the meeting, gave a marching order to the new service chiefs, whose appointments were confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, to reclaim all areas under the control of bandits, insurgents, and kidnappers.

The President had earlier admonished governors, essentially in the north, to review their policy of rewarding the bandits with money and vehicles because of the boomerang consequences, which are already okaying out.