Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday said when
29 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna
State, were abducted, the plan was to attack and kill the bandits even if it
meant some students would die in the process.
El-Rufai added that Kaduna is currently at war and such
would only be considered as collateral damage, a price he would be willing to
pay instead of paying ransom.
The governor, however, said before this could be done, the
bandits hurriedly changed location which led to the students spending over a
month in captivity.
The governor said this on Thursday during a webinar
organised by the Africa Leadership Group.
The event which was tagged: ‘Developing a Viable Nation 2’
was hosted by Pastor of Trinity House Church, Ituah Ighodalo.
Responding to a question on his refusal to negotiate with
bandits, the governor said, “Two days after the abduction of the Afaka young
people, I was assured by the air force and the army that they knew where the
kidnappers were with the students and they had encircled (them).
“We were going to attack them. We would lose a few students
but we would kill all the bandits and we would recover some of the students.
That was our plan. That was the plan of the air force and the army… But they
slipped through the cordon of the army. That is why they were not attacked.
“We know it is risky, we know in the process we may lose
some of the abductees but it is a price we have to pay. This is war, there will
always be collateral damage in war and we will rather do that than pay money
because paying money has not solved the problem anywhere in the world.”
El-Rufai admitted that he had “lost weight” over the
insecurity in Kaduna State which was giving him sleepless nights.
The governor, however, claimed that insecurity in Kaduna was
not as bad as Niger, Katsina and Zamfara but the media only focused attention
on his state because it fitted into
their narrative of ethnic clashes.
El-Rufai said in Katsina and Niger states, entire villages
were sacked by bandits but nothing of such happened in Kaduna.
On why he asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to
negotiate with Boko Haram to rescue Chibok girls, the governor stated that he only
gave that advice because that was the first time such abduction would take
place.
He said Boko Haram is driven by an ideology and not by money
in the case of today’s bandits.
The governor also spoke about his expectations for Nigeria
in 2023.
El-Rufai said it was his wish that the next President of
Nigeria would not be more than 65 years.
The governor said political leadership is mentally and
physically draining and a younger person would handle the stress better than an
older person.
El-Rufai also said the President, Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (retd.), hardly achieved much because he is a nice guy that doesn’t like
to sack.
He said he believed in sacking incompetent hands and that
was why he achieved more.
“I fire people so I
get higher execution rates. President Buhari is a nice guy, he doesn’t fire
people so he has a slower execution rate,” the governor added.
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