To End Banditry, Let’s Bomb All The Forests And Replant The Trees Later – Gov El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has called on security operatives to “carpet bomb the forests” to wipe out bandits, adding that the trees would be replanted later.

El-Rufai, who spoke in a chat with Arise TV on Monday, said that’s the only way to end the fight against banditry which has been prolonged due to “lack of enough boots on the ground”.

The governor added that more investment in security personnel, technology and military equipment will see bandits wiped out “once and for all”.

He said, “These bandits operate in the periphery because their hiding place is in the forest. It’s a major problem. The security agencies are doing their best but they are overstretched,” he said.

“The reality is we don’t have enough boots on the ground to address the myriad of security challenges that we face, and these security challenges are asymmetric, widespread, and there’s no part of Nigeria that doesn’t have one security problem or the other.

“Ramp up the number of boots and more technology and more investment in armament and wipe these guys once and for all.

“I’ve always believed that, you know, we should carpet-bomb the forests; we can replant the trees after. Let’s carpet-bomb the forests and bomb all of them. There will be collateral damage, but it’s better to wipe them out and get people back to our communities so that agriculture and rural economics can pick up.”

KanyiDaily recalls that Governor Nasir El-Rufai had warned that anyone caught negotiating with bandits, on behalf of the government, would be prosecuted.