The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, says the Federal Government looks weak and incompetent when it engages in dialogue with bandits, terrorists and other criminal elements.
He said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led FG would therefore not be negotiating with the criminal elements.
According to him, the bandits have no clear-cut ideology but are only out to inflict pain and suffering on hapless citizens.
Monguno, who spoke at the State House, Abuja on Thursday, said that the Federal Government would not hesitate to apply maximum force against the criminal elements.
“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’.
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“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.”