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Garba Shehu tackles Lai Mohammed, says bandits are terrorists
“Bandits” who have the resources and technology to shoot down a military fighter jet are not bandits at allā¦they are essentially no different to Boko Haram.ā
President Muhammadu Buhariās media aide Garba Shehu has denounced the claim of information minister Lai Mohammed that bandits terrorising the country, especially the North-West, are common criminals.
According to Mr Shehu, the murderous bandits are terrorists just like Boko Haram insurgents.
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āBut this too, the Economist inaccurately described: ābanditsā who have the resources and technology to shoot down a military fighter jet are not bandits at all ā but rather highly organised crime syndicates with huge resources and weaponry. Yet, they are essentially no different to Boko Haram in this regard who are now cornered,ā argued the presidential spokesman in response to a UK-based paper, The Economist, which reported on the worsening insecurity under Mr Buhariās regime.
A few days ago, information minister Lai Mohammed described the bandits ravaging the North as ordinary criminals, as pressure mounts for Mr Buhari to activate measures to treat them as a terrorist group.
The EconomistĀ notedĀ that terrorists and armed bandits are increasing their activities due to the corruption and laziness from Mr Buhari and his administration, adding that Nigeriaās insecurity could be curbed if the president would focus on Nigeriaās unemployment crisis by cutting government waste.
Mr Shehuās comments come amidst the Buhari-led regimeās reluctance to declare the extremist groups as such publicly.
Government officials and other prominent individuals have aired opposing views regarding designating the bandits as terrorists.
Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi alsoĀ warnedĀ against Mr Buhari declaring bandits as terrorists, saying it will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna had also expressed hisĀ displeasureĀ at the reluctance of Mr Buhariās regime to declare the bandits as terrorists.
Mr El-Rufai noted that just two years after Mr Buhari assumed power, he had requested the regime to declare the bandits as terrorists in several letters.
Mr El-Rufaiās Kaduna has been amongst the most devastated by the violent marauding criminals terrorising Nigeriaās northwestern region in recent years, abducting hundreds of schoolchildren for ransom and plundering communities.
They were responsible for the multiple abductions of students that have forced schools to shut down in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, and Zamfara. In July, the bandits shut down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara and raided the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna.
Although Mr Buhari acknowledged bandits have been terrorising the country, his regime has been reluctant to declare bandits as terrorists because they have yet to declare a political or religious goal, a key requisite in designating a movement as terrorists under international regulations.
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