Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says negotiations between government authorities and bandits tend to benefit the criminals at the expense of their victims.
In a statement released on Wednesday by his media aide, Paul Ibe, Abubakar said bandits frequently violate the peace agreements reached with the government.
He argued that effective deterrence is unlikely when governors are reduced to pleading with bandits under the guise of peace negotiations.
Although he clarified that he is not against dialogue as a means of ending violence, the former vice-president criticised situations where bandits set the conditions of peace deals.
“Those peace deals always favour the bandits more than their victims, and they have always fooled the government’s negotiators,” he said.
Abubakar added that the government should act proactively rather than waiting for attacks before responding.
“Nigerians are no longer impressed by the powerful language of condemnation by the government. They’re more interested in results than rhetoric,” he said.
“Experience has shown that if rhetoric were enough to deter the bandits, the menace would have ended a long time ago.”
Some state governments, including Katsina, have engaged bandits in negotiations to curb attacks and abductions.
The Katsina state government is reportedly arranging the release of 70 suspected bandits currently in custody, a step it said is necessary to strengthen community-based peace agreements with “repentant bandits” across several local government areas.
However, the ADC chieftain said the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration must be held responsible for its pledge to tackle insecurity.
“Nigerians cannot be comforted by excuses. As a former opposition party, the APC held the then government in power to the harshest and merciless standards, and therefore, the Tinubu administration must be held to the same standards,” Abubakar said.
He also condemned the abduction of more than 100 residents in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna state on Sunday, saying bandits are increasingly attacking communities without resistance.
Abubakar expressed concern that despite claims of success by some states in negotiating peace with bandits, criminal groups continue to raid communities and abduct residents.
“It is colossally embarrassing to see non-state actors holding the country hostage and attacking people and taking hostages again and again unchallenged,” he added.