The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has reminded the President Bola Tinubu administration that since 2021, bandit operating in the North West region of the country have been legally declared as terrorists.
President Tinubu on Wednesday, reiterated government’s resolve to defeat banditry, saying that those who resort to kidnapping children are cowards, incapable of confronting the might of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
In a state through his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu had last month said: “We must treat kidnappers as terrorists. They are cowardly. They have been degraded. They look for soft targets. They go to schools, kidnap children and cause disaffection. We must treat them equally as terrorists to get rid of them, and I promise you we will get rid of them.”
HURIWA who however, expressed shock by the President’s declaration that individuals involved in despicable crimes such as kidnapping must be treated as terrorists, said such comments shows that the current government has not fully implemented the legal declaration of North West Armed bandits as terrorists by the Federal High Court since the last administration which was also gazetted by the then federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice, under former President Muhammadu Buhari around January 2022.
The group also said the public declaration of intent by the President to treat kidnappers of school children as terrorists shows the inconsistency in the continuation of the war on terror passed on from the last administration, adding that this shouldn’t be the way since government is a continuum, meaning that successive administrations must implement lawful decisions of courts even if they were issued before the advent of the government of the moment.
HURIWA further expressed surprise that ironically, the current President made the declaration to treat Kidnappers of school children as terrorists on Tuesday last week at a Ramadan dinner with members of the Federal judiciary led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.