The Federal Government says it will neither employ the use of foreign mercenaries nor dialogue as a strategy to end terrorism and banditry in the country.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, disclosed this on Thursday during a ministerial briefing at the State House in Abuja.
Borno State Governor Babagan Zulum had called for the use of mercenaries to end Boko haram insurgency in the North East while Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle favoured the use of dialogue to end banditry in the Northwest.
Borno and Zamfara state are epi-centres of Boko haram insurgency and banditry respectively.
But Monguno said the government would rather deploy all necessary forces to eliminate criminals.
“The President’s view and directive is that we will not engage mercenaries when we have our own people to deal with these problems. We have the personnel and resources, and the President has given a new lease of life to the Armed Forces,” he said.
“While government is not averse to talking with these entities, it also has to fully apply its weight. You can’t (negotiate) with people who are unreliable and who will continue to hurt society. We will apply the full weight of the government to deal with these criminals.
“These are not people looking for anything that is genuine or legitimate; they’re just out to take calculated measures to inflict pain and violence on innocent people. We must deal with them the way they need to be dealt with. We will fully assert the government’s will.
“We are also focusing on the associated dimensions of the banditry and terrorism: Illegal Drugs, the flow of small arms & light weapons, and Illegal mining in places like Zamfara. These are some of the scenarios fueling the violence, and we are already tackling them decisively,”
