Buhari explains why security agencies haven’t deployed force against bandits

President Muhammadu Buhari says security forces have not moved against bandits in the country because of the fear of “heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages” that may be suffered in such operations.

The President, who was reacting to the ceaseless incidences of kidnaps and mindless attacks on citizens, especially the kidnap on Friday of 317 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State, said security forces have what it would take to end the current reign of terror.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari said the military had been mindful of the rules of engagement, adding that no criminal group is too powerful for strong for government to crush.

Buhari said: “This administration will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectations of huge ransom payments

“No criminal group can be too strong to be defeated by the government,” adding that, “the only thing standing between our security forces and the bandits are the rules of engagement.

“We have the capacity to deploy massive force against the bandits in the villages where they operate, but our limitation is the fear of heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human shields by the bandits,” he said, stressing that “our primary objective is to get the hostages safe, alive and unharmed.”

President Buhari noted: “A hostage crisis is a complex situation that requires maximum patience in order to protect the victims from physical harm or even brutal death at the hands of their captors.

He warned the bandits: “Let them not entertain any illusions that they are more powerful than the government. They shouldn’t mistake our restraint for the humanitarian goals of protecting innocent lives as a weakness or a sign of fear or irresolution.”

The President appealed to state governments “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously.”

He also advised state and local governments to be more proactive by improving security around schools and their surroundings.