The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), headed by NSA Nuhu Ribadu, has dismissed a statement made by Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, who accused it of running a policy that pays and feeds bandits in the north.

El-Rufai had stated that available evidence shows that the Federal Government implements this policy as part of its non-kinetic strategy to tackle insecurity.

Speaking with Channels TV's Politics Today on Sunday, El-Rufai stated that the policy is in effect in Kaduna State but other states are objecting to it.

He said, "What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic. It's nonsense.

"It's a national policy driven by the National Security Adviser. Kaduna is part of it. Many states are objecting to that."

According to El-Rufai, bandits are supposed to be killed and not pampered as a strategy to end insecurity in the country.

He said, "My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one; let's kill them all. Let's wipe them, let's bomb them until they are reduced to nothing. The five per cent that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.

"You don't negotiate from a position of weakness. You don't empower your enemy, you don't give him money to go and buy more sophisticated weapons. That's why the insecurity problem has not gone away and will not go away. As long as this policy continues.

"They can conceal it, they can do propaganda, but those that live in Katsina, those that live in Zamfara, those that live in those states, they know what is happening."

In a statement on Monday, the ONSA described El-Rufai's claim as baseless, adding that at no time has it, 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 the ground," the ONSA said.

It said from inception, the federal 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 ONSA said.

"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 the 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 ONSA urged El-Rufai and all political actors to desist from dragging national security institutions into partisan battles, stressing that "the fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring."

ASA