Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has faulted the exclusive reliance on firearms in tackling insecurity, insisting that Nigeria must adopt a broader approach to address the root causes of crime.
Naija News reports that the governor spoke in Kaduna during the public presentation of “Where I Stand”, a book written by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi and translated into Arabic by Sheikh Ibrahim Jalo Jalingo.
Governor Sani argued that insecurity in the North West differs from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, which is largely ideologically driven.
“Insecurity can’t be resolved solely through the use of firearms. Whoever makes such a claim is only playing politics,” he said.
“We must fear God, and stop deceiving the people because that approach will not work.”
According to him, banditry is fueled by poverty, unemployment and the neglect of rural communities, stressing that addressing those factors is as important as military action.
The governor lamented that Nigeria’s security manpower has dropped even as the country’s population has grown dramatically.
“In 1970, after the civil war, Nigeria had about 300,000 soldiers, but today they are less than 250,000, while our population has increased by over 100 million. How then can anyone say that guns alone will solve the problem? It is impossible,” he said.
He also pointed to the absence of security personnel in vast stretches of the North West.
“If you travel to Zamfara, Birnin Gwari, or the forests of Katsina, you can go for about 50 kilometres without meeting a single policeman, not to talk of a soldier,” he lamented.
Sani highlighted the Kaduna Peace Model, which emphasises non-kinetic approaches to security.
He said the model was initiated by local communities and involved traditional rulers, religious leaders and other stakeholders.
Citing the case of Birnin Gwari, the Kaduna State Governor explained that the Emir spearheaded efforts that restored relative peace after six months of consultations.
“We discovered that poverty, unemployment, lack of schools, hospitals, and commerce in rural areas pushed people into crime,” he said.
According to him, leaders must stop passing the blame to Abuja.
“We should not deceive our people by saying President Tinubu or National Security Adviser Ribadu is responsible. We were elected by the people, and it is our duty to do everything possible to protect our people,” he added.
El-Rufai Counters Non-Kinetic Approach
Naija News reports that Governor Sani’s remarks came just days after his predecessor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, dismissed negotiations and non-kinetic methods in addressing banditry.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, El-Rufai said: “I still maintain my earlier stance in dealing with these bandits. Kill them all. Reduce them to nothing. I’m a no-nonsense person. You don’t pamper terrorists by saying you are negotiating with them. It has never worked anywhere.”
The former governor also accused the current administration of suppressing media coverage of insecurity, adding that the situation in Kaduna was worse than before President Tinubu assumed office.
El-Rufai further alleged that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was coordinating ransom payments to bandits in exchange for kidnap victims.
But the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, dismissed the claim, insisting that neither his office nor any arm of government under the Tinubu administration had engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.
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