By ERICJAMES OCHIGBO

Former members of the National Assembly under the auspices of House to The Rescue (HTR) have warned against all form of negotiation with terrorists as a means to address the insecurity in the country.

The former lawmakers issued the caution in a statement signed by their North West Zonal Coordinator, Mr Muhammed Soba, and co-signed by other zonal coordinators on Wednesday.

Soba said that negotiating with criminals had never worked anywhere in the world saying that global history warned of its disadvantages.

“Countries that tried this path paid dearly for it; Colombia talks with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) emboldened kidnappers, increased ransom operations, and strengthened the group militarily.

“Mexico’s back-channel contacts with cartels worsened kidnapping rates, empowered gangs, and created a security collapse from which Mexico still suffers.

“Afghanistan’s concessions to the Taliban-including prisoner swaps-allowed the group to regroup and eventually overthrow the entire government.

“Somalia’s engagement with warlords only deepened the conflict and gave militias space to expand and Mali’s deals with jihadist/bandit groups allowed them to spread violence into neighbouring countries.

“The global evidence is indisputable, negotiating with violent non-state actors leads to more violence, not peace.

“Nigeria is not an exception, Nigeria will not be the first country where bandit negotiations succeeds,” he said.

Th former lawmaker warned that any form of negotiation would amount to legitimising criminality and endangering the entire nation.

According to him, entering talks with bandits, signals weakness, encouraging more kidnappings, giving criminals political relevance, undermining security agencies and destroying public trust in the state.

He said that the approach had already created a dangerous business model where abductors took citizens and waited for government representatives to negotiate instead of force.

“We urge government at all levels to stop all negotiations and covert dealings with bandits immediately and launch a coordinated, intelligence-driven national security operation to rescue victims and dismantle kidnapping networks.

“We call for a clear security strategy with timelines, responsibilities and accountability mechanisms and the activation of the full national assembly oversight to investigate all government officials and state actors involved in unauthorised contacts or negotiations with criminals.

“The government’s first duty is the protection of lives and property; any administration that chooses compromise with criminals over the safety of its people has lost moral authority to lead.

“Nigerians deserve a country where criminals fear the state and not a country where the state fears criminals,” he said. (NAN)

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