The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Wednesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits causing mayhem in the North-West as terrorists.
El-Rufai, who made the call when he received the third quarter security report from the state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in Kaduna, said the declaration of bandits as terrorists would inspire the Nigerian military to attack and kill the bandits without breaching international law.
The National Assembly had recently asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare the bandits as terrorists.
The governor said the state government had since 2017 asked President Buhari to declare the criminals as terrorists.
El-Rufai said: “We in the Kaduna State government had always urged for the declaration of bandits as insurgents and terrorists. We have written letters to the Federal Government since 2017 asking for this declaration because it is this declaration that will allow the Nigerian military to attack and kill these bandits without any major consequences in international law.
“So, we support the resolution by the National Assembly and we are going to follow up with a letter of support for the federal government to declare these bandits and insurgents as terrorists, so that, there will be fair game for our military.”
