The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has dismissed as “baseless” the allegation by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that the present administration has been paying ransom or inducements to criminals.
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In a statement on Monday, the Director of Legal Services at ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, said El-Rufai’s claims were “not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on ground.”
The statement clarified that neither ONSA nor any agency under the current administration has engaged in ransom payments, stressing that government has consistently warned Nigerians against such practices.
“From inception, this 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 but are now experiencing relative peace,” it stated.
ONSA noted that military-led kinetic operations had led to the capture or elimination of several notorious bandits, though at the cost of the lives of gallant security personnel.
In Kaduna alone, it recalled, dreaded kingpins including Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka were neutralised, while leaders of Ansaru who had established bases in the state were recently apprehended.
“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 statement added.
The ONSA cautioned El-Rufai and other political actors against dragging security institutions into partisan conflicts, stressing that the fight against banditry is a “collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.”
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