₦airaland Forum

Press Statement
Monday 1 September 2025
FCT ABUJA

FIGHT AGAINST BANDITRY: FACTS DISPROVE EL-RUFAI’S FALSE CLAIMS

The attention of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has been drawn to comments made by the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, in a television interview on Sunday. In that interview, he alleged, falsely, that the ONSA coordinates a policy of payments and offers incentives to bandits.

This claim is baseless. At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.

On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom. El-Rufai’s allegations are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on ground.

From inception, this government adopted a dual strategy: decisive kinetic operations alongside community engagements aimed at addressing local grievances. The result is evident in areas such as Igabi, Birnin Gwari, Giwa, and other parts of Kaduna that once suffered untold terror in Kaduna state but are now experiencing relative peace.

The efforts of our gallant military and security agencies in capturing or eliminating notorious bandits have been widely reported in the media. In Kaduna alone, known kingpins as who once terrorised residents such as Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari and Boka, among others, were eliminated. Only recently, leaders of Ansaru who previously established bases in Kaduna were apprehended.

These successes came at a cost, some of our brave officers paid the supreme price. For a former governor of a state in person of El-Rufai to deny these sacrifices on national television is both unfair and deeply insulting to the memories of our security personnel.

We urge El-Rufai and all political actors to desist from dragging national security institutions into partisan battles.

The fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.

SIGNED
Zakari Mijinyawa
For: Office of the National Security Adviser

LagosOrigin:
The Canadian government was right for declaring APC a terrorist organization .

The truth is gradually coming out which is APC pays terrorists and bandits.

I am pretty sure that APC is also behind the insecurity in south east that ravaged the region between 2022 to mid 2024.

fergie001:
Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/8510160/insecurity-fg-empowers-bandits-paying

fergie001:
Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/8510160/insecurity-fg-empowers-bandits-paying

InvertedHammer:
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What is more pampering than arresting killer terrorists, rehabilitating them and releasing them back into the battlefield? Or worse, enlisting them in the military from where they leak intel to their comrades about the movement of the troops. It doesn't help that "repentant" terrorists are being fed and taken care of better than the military personnel in the battlefront.

The information is very credible coming from an ex-Northern governor, a fulani and a member of the kitchen cabinet of Buhari. He knows the secrets of the cabals.

/

jordyspices:
It is obvious these men are scared of el rufia if na me talk am dss army police for don come kidnap me

Enice:
No! They're not scared of him. They've already seen his endgame! He wants to be arrested. They'll now say he was saying the truth that was why he was arrested to silence him. His already arranged scammers like obi, and the rest, will now come out to protest his release.
As the saying goes, you ignore an idiot! You don't join issues with him.

jordyspices:
It is obvious these men are scared of el rufia if na me talk am dss army police for don come kidnap me

AMINDA:
Elrufai has said he has evidence and dared them to disprove him. He should have been sued instead of this watery rebuttal but they wouldn't dare. Elrufai always published monthly security incident report as governor of Kaduna, hence why it always seemed like insecurity was rife. He never paid media houses to suppress news as is obviously now the case. He ran an open government and everything was transparent. The current one is a master of propaganda and paying social media influencers to peddle lies and disinformation and do image laundering. Case in point, the 300-bed specialist hospital in Kaduna state commissioned by Tinubu that has turned out to be a ruse with rented ambulences and hospital equipment. There are several others.

AMINDA:
Lol. They are not meant to arrest him, we are not in a dictatorship. They should rather sue him if they think he's lying. We have seen Ribadu threaten many with lawsuits in the past, e.g Kano state deputy governor and Hajiya Na'ajatu Muhammed.

Enice:
ONSA threatened a State deputy governor? Are you really serious right now! The ONSA threatened an office that's protected by immunity! Well, if he did, it will be a civil case, not a criminal one. Unlike that of Elrufai that's seriously begging for arrest since he's tired and frustrated of living