remains a key priority of his administration and he would do whatever it
takes to ensure the country’s security system confronts these public
enemies with merciless determination.
Reacting to the recent spike in reported incidents of banditry and
kidnappings in some parts of the country, President Buhari while condoling
all those affected by the unfortunate events, described himself as one of
the unhappiest leaders in the world.
“How can I be happy and indifferent to the senseless killings of my fellow
citizens by bandits? I am human and I understand the pains of the victims
and their families who have been traumatized and impoverished by constant
ransom demands by bandits”, the President said empathetically.
“The politicisation of tragedy reveals the darkest sides of our primitive
politics. Almost every week, I summon my security chiefs to get an update
on the strategies being devised to defeat these mass murderers.
“There is no issue that dominates my mind every 24 hours like security
because, as an elected President, protecting the citizens of my country is
one of the primary functions of my administration.
“I constantly listen to our security personnel in order to understand
their problems and needs, and I have never hesitated to attend to those
needs in terms of motivating and equipping them to respond effectively to
our security challenges.
“It is therefore ridiculous to suggest that I am indifferent to these
killings.
“I have ordered rapid and robust deployment of troops to all the areas
currently under attack from bandits and we are determined to tackle this
challenge ferociously until these remorseless killers are crushed and
utterly defeated,” the President said.
President Buhari called on communities where banditry is active to support
and cooperate with the security agencies, particularly the recently
launched Operation Puff Adder to battle bandits and kidnappers.
The President said it was regrettable that bandits have informants within
some communities and utterly reprehensible that certain communities have
signed protection deals with bandits at the expense of other communities,
thereby creating complications and frustrating government’s intervention
He appealed to communities to report suspicious movements of the bandits
into their areas within the shortest available opportunity, especially
considering the fact that intelligence is critical to detecting,
frustrating, neutralising and defeating the criminals.