The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said nobody can claim to fight for justice or the poor while at the same time paying bandits.

Sani stressed that rather than compensating the perpetrators of violence, his administration has focused on supporting the victims.

The governor spoke on Thursday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme.

Sani noted that the insecurity plaguing the North-West is largely driven by economic factors, unlike the ideological underpinnings of Boko Haram in the North-East.

Responding to earlier criticisms that he was allegedly trying to negotiate with or pay bandits, Sani said such accusations contradict his long-standing advocacy for justice.

He said, “Looking at security issues, we just have to sit down and analyse what the symptoms and the drivers of insecurity are. I agree with you that Boko Haram is more of an ideological issue. But when you are talking about insurgency in the North West, it’s an economic matter. That’s why when we came in, I said, Look, we can’t resolve it with a kinetic approach only.

“When I started, a lot of people were criticising me, saying ‘you are trying to pay bandits’. But I told them a man who fought for justice and for the downtrodden can’t sit down with the bandit and pay him.

“So they were surprised only two weeks ago when I came up with my own programme, where I gave houses to the victims of insurgency instead of compensating or giving anything to the bandits. I haven’t given one naira to the bandits but I have built houses for the victims of banditry in Kaduna State.”