FG isn’t handling bandits with kid gloves – Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government stated that the accusation that it was handling bandits with child gloves was false and deceptive.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, revealed this on Tuesday during an appearance on the Nigeria Television “Good Morning Nigeria” program.

On a program monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the minister said banditry was a form of criminality that had nothing to do with religion or philosophy.

He claimed that the federal government’s military strategy to dealing with criminals did not distinguish between bandits and terrorists.

“I believe we have been circling around nomenclature; a criminal is a criminal, whether a bandit or a terrorist, and they are treated the same way.

“That is why the accusation that the federal administration is kinder to bandits than separatists and other criminals is ludicrous to us.

“This is a falsehood, fake news, and misinformation all rolled into one, and this is the kind of divisive language advocated by some naysayers,” he stated.

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It was absurd, Mohammed remarked, for the military to treat bandits who were murdering soldiers and police officers with child gloves.

He went on to say that the military’s approach to combating criminality on land and in the air will make it impossible to distinguish between bandits and other criminals.

They were winning the war, Mohammed added, with the heightened offensive against bandits and specific measures implemented by the governors of the states where bandits were operating.

He claimed that the governors had learned from their previous mistakes and vowed not to bargain with bandits, but rather to pursue them and not spare them.

Mohammed claimed that measures such as the suspension of mobile telecommunication networks in some places and the prohibition on the sale of petroleum products in jerry cans and at filling stations near land borders were bearing results.

He went on to say that restrictions on the usage of “junction motor parks” in the states, as well as a ban on the sale of fairly used motorcycles in specific markets, were also yielding benefits.

Meanwhile, President Muhammdu Buhari was pressed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday to show adequate political will by revealing the identify of the member of the supreme legislature, the National Assembly, who he claims is funding terrorism.

This came after Hon. Ben Igbakpa (Delta, PDP) proposed a motion of privilege, expressing significant concern about Mr. President’s serious charge against a serving member of the 9th Assembly.

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Hon. Igbakpa stated that Section 17(a) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2017 confers on the House the constitutional obligations of lawmaking as outlined in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The legislator who requested House intervention voiced his displeasure with the gravity of the allegation leveled against the Legislative branch of government by the President of the United States.

While noting that no arm of government is superior to the other under the principle of separation of powers, Hon. Igbakpa emphasized the importance of the House leadership meeting with its Senate counterpart in order to interface with Mr. President in order to name the serving member of the National Assembly who is sponsoring terrorism, as he claimed in paragraph 33 of his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians.

He also asked the House to urge President Buhari to “immediately initiate the prosecution of the individual and, if convicted, to be completely shamed.”

“As reported by media houses around the world, President Buhari in his Independence Day speech reminded the world that one of us is funding terrorism,” Hon. Igbakpa remarked while recounting his ordeal at the Ghana airport. IPOB is a terrorist group in the eyes of the law today, even if we have misgivings, because the laws of the land and the courts have spoken.

“Mr. Speaker, that implies 469 National Assembly members are criminal suspects. On that terrible day, I traveled to Akure to attend the funeral service of Hon. Expensive, a colleague of ours.

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“On Saturday, I had to honor a wedding invitation in Ghana, Mr. Speaker, and you will be amazed at what I experienced at the hands of Ghanaian officials.

“They detained me for about four hours, saying they were trying to confirm something; I stayed at the airport for four hours, missed the wedding I was supposed to attend, and at the end of the day, one of them walked up to me and said sorry sir, there has been an announcement in Nigeria that a member of Parliament is sponsoring terrorism, and we have been put on red alert to ensure that no member of Parliament comes here to hide or evade detection; at the end of the day, one of them

“I had no choice but to return home disheartened. They’ve been phoning me from all over the world, informing me who among you is funding terrorism, my friends have been telling me. Any father who names and shames a child who is causing division is doing the right thing. But instead of shaming or naming that person, Mr. President listed 469 members.

“Because we’ve always collaborated and Nigeria has a lot to deal with, I’m appealing, if it’s not the correct thing to do, to invoke Section 28 of the constitution so they can tell us who among us is funding terrorism.”

“Everyone here is a prime suspect. I urge the House leadership to work with their Senate colleagues to arrange a meeting with the President so that he can learn who is funding terrorism among us.

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Hon. Igbakpa encouraged the President to go ahead and pursue and convict that person.

Concerned by the development, certain members who expressed an interest in contributing to the motion were denied the opportunity to do so because it was brought under the heading of ‘Privilege.’

The Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who presided over the House plenary, responded by saying that the motion of privilege had been “noted” and that he would “get back to you on that.”