Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said that terrorists and bandits causing mayhem in Nigeria’s North-East and North-West are not foreigners but originate from the region itself.
Sani made the remarks during a public discussion on insecurity, stressing that the North must take the lead in resolving the crisis. He called on Northern leaders to take direct responsibility for addressing the security challenges in their region.
The former lawmaker said that the narrative that terrorists and bandits hail from Mali, Malawi, or other African countries is misleading.
“The terrorists killing people in the North-East are not from Congo, Malawi, Libya, or Egypt; they are northerners, and they are Muslims. We must be honest about this,” he said.
He added that the situation in the North-West mirrors the same pattern.
The bandits in the North-West are not from Senegal, Mali, Morocco, Guinea, or Guinea-Bissau; they are Fulani from the North-West of Nigeria,” he stated.
The APC chieftain warned that the region must stop externalising the problem and confront it internally.
“It is for us to solve this problem, not anybody else. They are not speaking Chinese or Spanish. They speak Fulani, Hausa, and Kanuri. These are our languages,” he said.
Speaking on the threat they pose, Sani said that the number of active terrorists and bandits is smaller than often assumed.
“The total number of bandits and terrorists is not more than 5,000,” he posited.
Sani urged Northern leaders to decide when they will directly confront the escalating violence and to develop a coordinated regional security strategy based on credible intelligence about the groups driving the attacks.
Bandits and terrorist attacks have spiked recently, causing fear among Nigerians. There have been recorded attacks on schools and churches with some casualties.