Popular human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, has reacted to Governor Umar Muhammed Bago’s consideration of dialoguing with terrorists in Niger State.
Note that Niger State has been in the news in recent times as bandits and terrorists kept attacking and killing residents.
Troops were killed by bandits in an ambush in the Shiroro area of Niger while a Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashed in the state on Monday.
This was as Bago said his administration had put in place a non-kinetic mechanism against bandits.
Bago who disclosed this to State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, however vowed to activate military action if the non-kinetic approach fails.
His words: “We are looking at two options: first, non-kinetic. As a government, we have put in machinery to start talking to the bandits.
“We have also created a ministry for nomadic, and pastoral affairs to look at the issues of Fulani herdsmen.
“You also need to understand that Niger State has the largest congregation of Fulani.
“Niger State is 8.3 million hectares of land with bodies of water, and the environment is very good for grazing.
“A lot of Fulani across the world, not just Africa, converge in Niger State, so we don’t want them to leave, We don’t want any major military activities, We want to talk to them.
“But if we don’t get to that level of dialogue, then probably, we have to go fully military.”
Meanwhile, Yesufu, sharing her thoughts on the way Bago was handling the situation, opined that the Governor must bring the terrorists to their knees before considering dialogue.
Commenting via X, she said, “Any dialogue that is not from a position of strength is nonsense.
“You must first bring them to their knees and then have them beg you for the dialogue.”
