Days of bandits, kidnappers, insurgents numbered –Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that the days of bandits, kidnappers and insurgents are numbered, insisting his administration will subdue them wherever they are in the country.

He gave the indication on Saturday in his address at the fourth convocation of the Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Katsina State.

The President, who is the Visitor to the university, said the war against bandits and kidnappers involved a lot of covert operations.

He said the current war against banditry and other forms of criminality would be won “not in the far future.”

Buhari, who was represented at the event by a former Kano State Deputy Governor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, said, “I want to reassure the people of Katsina State and indeed all the other states of the federation that the climate of fear being orchestrated by bandits, kidnappers and insurgents would soon come to an end.

“We are bent on subduing the situation and creating the environment for the lawful citizens to go about their legitimate businesses without fear or molestation.”

Buhari also challenged universities in the country to come up with new strategies for generating revenue internally, pointing out that funding the institutions had posed a challenge.

He said, “The high cost of funding university activities cannot be borne by government alone. In this regard, I want to urge and encourage our universities to look inwards for more constructive ways of generating internal revenue through research that will attract research grants, establishment of consultancy services, poultry and fisheries farms, hotels, animal husbandry, partnering with the private sector.”

Meanwhile, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin, has urged postgraduates in the country to focus their researches on the security challenges facing Nigeria and the possible ways out.

Olonisakin stated this, according to a statement on Saturday, while receiving some postgraduate students of Peace, Conflict and Strategic Studies of the Nile University of Nigeria at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

The students were on a study tour of military establishments and institutions within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The CDS, who was represented by the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Air Vice Marshal Bello Garba, said the findings of their researches would facilitate tackling the security challenges and aid security agencies in combating the contemporary security threats.

The statement by acting Director, Defence Information, Col Onyema Nwachukwu, partly read, “The leader of the delegation, Prof. Gani Yorom, said the visit was aimed at acquainting the postgraduate students with key variables of the Defence and Strategic Studies, as well as broadening their knowledge and horizon on the structure and operational activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”