A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has cautioned that granting amnesty to bandits could encourage criminality and worsen insecurity across Nigeria.
Gossip News Now reports that Shittu issued the warning on Wednesday during an appearance on Frontline, a current affairs programme broadcast on Eagle 102.5 FM in Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.
Reacting to the recent decision by the Katsina State Government to release about 70 suspected bandits under a peace arrangement, Shittu described such measures as counterproductive.
“If you give amnesty to hundreds of criminals, you might as well open the prisons. It sends the wrong message,” Shittu said, stressing that decisive law enforcement, not negotiations, is the real solution to the country’s security challenges.
He argued that offering amnesty to armed criminals emboldens others to take up crime, expecting similar concessions.
An indigene of Oyo State, Shittu served as Minister of Communications under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
On the wave of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Shittu attributed the trend to internal crises within opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Political instability naturally pushes politicians toward platforms perceived as more organised. Nobody desires a one-party state, but when parties mismanage themselves, people will move to where there is stability. That is simple arithmetic,” he added.
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