cannot be proscribed in Nigeria because they don’t have any identity or
name they identify with as a group.
Mohammed spoke on AIT’s Kaakaki programme on Wednesday, explaining that
proscribing bandits in the country is not what really matters but how
they are treated.
Comparing bandits with armed robbers, the minister said bandits and
others who challenge the security of a nation cannot be legally
proscribed since they do not have an identity.
He said, “You proscribe known groups with names. You can’t just
proscribe an unknown group legally. Secondly, it’s not whether they are
proscribed or not, it is the way they are treated. Does the government
actually treat them with kid gloves? The answer is no.”
Speaking on the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the
Nigerian government, Mohammed also pointed out that there is a
difference between the bandits and the group, noting that “When a group
is championing a course for the disintegration of Nigeria… A group like
IPOB (that) does not even recognise Nigeria as a state, sets up its own
army and thinks it is a sovereign state, is different from bandits and
criminals. Please, don’t compare apples and oranges.”
But when asked if the bandits do not also threaten the sovereignty of
Nigeria by taking up arms against its citizens, Mohammed described the
cases are completely different from each other.
He said, “Security challenges are one thing. Challenging the sovereignty
of Nigeria is a completely different thing. Don’t let us dwell on
semantics.”
Speaking further, he said, “Don’t armed robbers threaten the security of
lives and property? They do. Is there anywhere in the world that armed
robbers have been proscribed?”
Many Nigerians had been asking the government if it was justified to
have proscribed IPOB, saying they were not known to be killers like
groups of bandits terrorising citizens across the country.