Yerima: Why I advocated dialogue with bandits

A former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima, has renewed his advocacy for dialogue with bandits. 

He spoke on Monday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. 

Yerima said though the federal government possessed the capacity to contain banditry decisively, it was the government at the centre that championed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s successful negotiation with militants in the Niger Delta region. 

The former governor said dialogue was necessary to avoid collateral damage and recalled that World War I and World War II were resolved on the negotiation tables. 

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He emphasised that negotiations were an integral part of governance and that they should be pursued before resorting to extensive military operations. 

He said poverty and ignorance were root causes of conflicts and proposed rehabilitation programmes as a means to integrate the bandits back into society. 

He said poverty and ignorance were prevalent among the bandits and advocated education and poverty alleviation programmes to address the root causes of their actions. 

On the concerns raised about the plight of victims affected by bandits’ activities, he said he was proposing a solution for the overall Nigerian crisis and not advocating for the bandits. 

He stressed the importance of giving Nigerians the opportunity to repent, be rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society. 

He restated his confidence in the government’s capacity, with adequate resources and support, to address the security challenges if negotiations failed.