Monguno reveals why FG won’t dialogue with bandits, terrorists

National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), has revealed why the Federal Government is not interested in dialoguing and negotiating with bandits and terrorists in the country.

Monguno said negotiation with bandits and terrorists paints the government weak and incapable of dealing with the criminal elements terrorising the country.

The NSA stated this on Thursday at a State House Briefing in Aso Villa, Abuja.

He added that President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime won’t hesitate to use all its military weight and assets to eliminate the insurgents.

Monguno said “The government is tackling the problem of insecurity, we’ve said this many times that there are two phases in solving this problem –the soft approach: talking, negotiating, and so on and so forth.

“While the government is not averse to talking to these entities, these human beings, I have to be very honest, the government has to apply its weight, that force that is required because you can’t even talk with people who are unreliable, who will turn out to do a different thing and people who will continue to hurt the society.

“So, basically, what the government wants to rely upon is to deal with this issue by using all the assets – military assets, intelligence assets to eliminate these people.

“If along the line, some of them are ready to come out and talk and negotiate, when the time comes, we will do that but for now, we can’t keep on dwelling on ‘Let’s dialogue’.

“Psychologically, it is not even good for us, it paints the picture of weakness, it paints the picture of incapacity and I, just like the governor of Kaduna State said, do not see any reason why we cannot, with what we have, deal with these elements.

“These are not people who are looking for anything that is genuine (or) legitimate; these are people who are just out to perform atrocities, to take calculated measures to inflict pain, violence on people.

“At the slightest opportunity, they go haywire. And so, it is important for us to realise that we are dealing with people who are not looking for anything, people who without provocation will give birth to their homicidal instincts. We must deal with them the way they have to be dealt with.”