The Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, says the Nigerian Armed Forces do not support paying money to criminal groups. Speaking in an interview, he stressed that experience had shown ransom payments do not work and that the military was not part of such arrangements.
He explained that instead, the armed forces, working with the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the National Security Adviser, operate a Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration programme. Under the scheme, bandits who surrender their weapons undergo profiling to determine their level of culpability before being transferred to centres in Gombe and Zamfara states.
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Major General Onumajuru added that those found guilty of serious crimes face prosecution, while others, including individuals forcibly conscripted, are rehabilitated through Operation Safe Corridor. He also called on border communities to play a stronger role in helping to secure Nigeria’s frontiers.
The comments follow criticism by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who accused the government of “empowering bandits” by providing them with allowances and food.
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