Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has insisted that his administration will not be yield to blackmails from kidnappers to back down on its “no ransom, no negotiation” policy.
According to him, the kidnappers resorted to killing of victims as part of their efforts to compel his government to ditch its policy.
In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, on Tuesday, El-Rufai said the fact that criminals seek to hold the state by the jugular does not mean it should surrender and create an incentive for more crime.
He also lampooned those making reference to the statement he made in 2014 where he called on former President, Goodluck Jonathan to use all options, including negotiation, to rescue Chibok girls.
Many Nigerians recently called out the Governor for risking the lives of citizens by not paying for ransom of students kidnapped from two institutions – Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation and Greenfield University, where five of the kidnap victims have been killed.
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El Rufai added that the incident had proven that the solution to violent crimes was a robust response from the state and its coercive agencies
The statement titled, ‘Surrender to criminals is not an option’, reads in part;
We regret the recent kidnaps and killings of students from tertiary institutions in our state, and we sympathise with their families with whom we share the aim of the safe return of all the students
In today’s Nigeria, it has become fashionable to treat the unlawful demands of bandits as worthy of consideration and to lampoon people who insist that outlaws should be crushed and not mollycoddled or availed the resources they can use to unleash further outrages.
The statement added;
Some commentators are sharing a video clip of a 2014 interview in which Malam Nasir El-Rufai called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to use all options, including negotiation, to rescue the Chibok girls.
Nigeria’s journey since the tragedy has proven that the solution to violent crimes, including terrorism and banditry, is a robust response from the state and its coercive agencies. The quantum of money paid as ransom following many negotiations with bandits have not stopped kidnappings, reduced their frequency or deterred the criminals.
