The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has dismissed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s claims that the Federal Government is paying ransom or offering incentives to bandits.
El-Rufai, who appeared on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, alleged that the government was giving money and food supplies to bandits. He criticised this approach, describing it as unsustainable, and declared that “a repentant bandit is simply a dead bandit.”
In a swift response on Monday, ONSA spokesperson Zakari Mijinyawa described the allegation as baseless, stating: “At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.”
The statement noted that the government’s counter-insurgency strategy combines military operations with community engagement, which has yielded significant gains in Kaduna and other affected states. It highlighted the neutralisation of notorious bandit leaders — including Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka — as well as the arrest of Ansaru commanders as evidence of the government’s hardline stance.
Mijinyawa condemned El-Rufai’s remarks as “unfair and deeply insulting” to security personnel who lost their lives in the fight against insurgency and banditry.
The ONSA urged political leaders to avoid politicising national security, stressing that “the fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.”
