Former governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Yerima has told President Bola Tinubu to consider amnesty for bandits to end insecurity in the North West of the country.

Yerima said Tinubu should consider implementing an amnesty program for bandits in the North as the late President Umar Yardua did for militants in the Niger Delta.

He said:

“I believe that the Nigerian military has the capacity to deal with them (bandits) if so directed and given the resources, support, and political will.

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“But the collateral damages that will be associated with the actions to be taken are what I believe should be avoided. If you send an aircraft now, not only bandits will be affected.

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“Former President Umaru Yar’Adua had a similar interaction with the militants in the Niger Delta, and it was successful.”

Yelima argued that the federal government should negotiate with the “repentant” bandits.

He argued that the use of military force would cause “collateral damage” and should therefore be considered a last resort.

Earlier in an interview on BBC Hausa, the former governor called on the governor of the Northwest territories to speak to the bandits terrorising the region.

He said after a courtesy visit to the President on Monday at Aso Rock Villa, Abuja:

“The best way to go about handling the issue of bandits is to introduce dialogue first. But as I said, if that fails, then the government will go all out to eliminate them.”

Checks revealed that for nearly a decade, Zamfara state in northwestern Nigeria has been the scene of armed clashes between the army and bandits fighting for control of the state’s mineral-rich areas.