Fear Of ICC Preventing Military From Wiping Out Bandits, Says El-Rufai

Governor, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, on Thursday recommended ways to finally put to rest banditry and terrorism besetting the northwest, saying that the military had been reluctant to engage them fully because of the fear of being dragged before the International Court of Justice (ICC).

Featuring on the weekly ministerial press briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the presidential villa, Abuja, he said while he had campaigned for the bandits to be classified as terrorists, there were some push backs on the ground that they do not have a recognized leadership structure.

He expressed delight over the court ruling, which recently declared the bandits as terrorists and therefore made them “a fair game.”

El-Rufai said to deal with the criminality permanently, there must be simultaneous ground and air attacks in all the states hosting the criminals to prevent them from escaping.

He said the locations of the terrorists are known, saying that they must be wiped out at once rather than the present piecemeal approach if the problem must be solved.

The governor said the Fulanis who are involved in the criminality will never abandon the business on their own because they make far more money from it than they would have made from the legitimate cattle business.

El-Rufai affirmed that kidnapping and terrorism had since become business but with the added element of collaborating with Boko Haram even as he said the effort to tackle the menace had been uncoordinated.