The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, have locked horns over alleged payment of ransom in billions to the bandits and terrorists kidnapping people in the North.
While ex-Kaduna governor claimed that the present government is paying bandits billions of Naira to free some people in their captivity, the NSA described the claim as “false” aimed at denigrating the government’s efforts.
When he appeared on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, El-Rufai had claimed that the insecurity ravaging the North was higher than how it was before Tinubu-led federal government came on board.
The former governor specifically said the issue of insecurity is being underreported in the media, arguing the media is being suppressed, hence, making it look like the problem has been solved by the government.
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“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.”
“What this government is doing, is that they have succeeded in suppressing the media not to report insecurity issues. The present security challenges, particularly in my State (Kaduna) is more than what we had in the past,” El-Rufai had said during the programme.
But in a swift reaction on Monday morning, Ribadu dismissed the claim, saying at no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under Tinubu’s administration engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.
The NSA, in a statement signed on his behalf by the Director of Legal Services in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, described El-Rufai’s claims as “baseless”.
He insisted that the comments contradicted verifiable facts on the ground.
“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.
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“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,” the statement partly read.
Ribadu further explained that from inception of the Tinubu-led administration, the government adopted a dual strategy: decisive kinetic operations alongside community engagements aimed at addressing local grievances.
He added, “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.”
The former EFCC Chairman, however, urged El-Rufai and all other political actors to desist from dragging national security institutions into partisan battles.
He noted that the fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.
