Former governor of Zamfara State, Ahmad Yerima, has urged President Bola Tinubu to negotiate with repentant bandits.
According to Channels, he stated this on Monday while speaking with State House correspondents after a courtesy visit to the president.
Yerima, who claimed that the previous government neglected to negotiate with the bandits, believes that if the Federal Government steps in and initiates negotiations with the bandits, the country will make significant progress, as it did with Niger Delta insurgents.
He also cited the success of late President Musa Yar’Adua’s 2007 negotiations with militants in the Niger Delta region as an example for peaceful resolution.
The Senator, who stated that the challenges of banditry are exacerbated by the region’s growing poverty and illiteracy, stated that he is not advocating for bandits but that the Federal Government can use resources and political will to initiate negotiations with repentant bandits.
Senator Yerima also stated that the president should intervene in the power struggle between Zamfara State’s incumbent Governor Dauda Lawal and his predecessor, Bello Matawalle.
