The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has rejected El-Rufai’s allegation that it coordinates payments and incentives for bandits, describing the claim as “baseless.”
“This claim is baseless. At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals. On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom. El-Rufai’s allegations are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on the ground,” the statement said.
The ONSA explained that the government had from inception adopted a dual approach, a decisive kinetic operations alongside community engagements aimed at addressing local grievances.
It listed successes recorded in Kaduna and other parts of the North, including the killing of notorious bandits.
“In Kaduna alone, known kingpins who once terrorised residents such as Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka, among others, were eliminated. Only recently, leaders of Ansaru, who previously established bases in Kaduna, were apprehended,” it stated.
“These successes came at a cost; some of our brave officers paid the supreme price. For a former governor of a state in the person of El-Rufai to deny these sacrifices on national television is both unfair and deeply insulting to the memories of our security personnel.”
The ONSA urged political leaders to desist from dragging security institutions into partisan politics, warning that the fight against banditry is “a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring.”
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