The governor said the bandits would not be willing to give up kidnapping, considering how lucrative kidnapping had been to them.
On Friday, Nigerians woke up to the news of another abduction of female students during an attack on Federal College Of Forestry Mechanisation in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna state.
SaharaReporters gathered that the school is less than 15 kilometres from the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna.
The gunmen on Thursday also attacked three local government areas of Igabi, Giwa and Chikun in the state and killed seven persons.
The gunmen were also said to have injured others, as well as rustled 20 cows.
This is happening three weeks after bandits operating between Tegina in Niger state and Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state met with Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and vowed to deal with Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
El-Rufai had earlier in February said any bandit arrested in the state would be brought to justice, maintaining that “Kaduna state is at war with bandits”.
He also disagreed with suggestions by Gumi that the bandits should be granted amnesty and compensated.
The governor said the bandits would not be willing to give up kidnapping, considering how lucrative kidnapping had been to them.
“Anybody that thinks a Fulani man that ventured into kidnapping for ransom, and is earning millions of naira, would go back to his former life of getting N100,000 after selling a cow in a year, must be deceiving himself,” El-Rufai had said.
“Why should they be compensated after killing people, destroying their houses? Who offended them? Ahmad Gumi is my friend and this is what we discussed with him.
“I told him that the majority of these Fulani bandits don’t believe in religion. Therefore, I don’t believe in what he (Gumi) is doing, that they should be forgiven and compensated.”[story_link align="left"]89995[/story_link]
Speaking during the meeting with Gumi, the leader of the banditry group, Dogo Gide, lambasted El-Rufai over his statement.
According to a source, Gide added that his men were ready to carry out more attacks on communities in Kaduna State.
“He told the delegation led by Sheikh Gumi that he would deal with Governor El-Rufai and nothing would happen. He also said his boys were ready to attack more towns in the state. He said he and his boys were not afraid of death and anybody against their demands would be crushed.
“Sheikh later begged him and told him that all Northern governors had agreed to meet their demands,” a security operative at the meeting told SaharaReporters.
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