- Safiu Kehinde
A retired Army General, Maj. Gen. Danjuma Ali-Keffi, has recalled how former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, handled the case of banditry in the state with zero-tolerance.
Ali-Keffi who served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Kaduna Army Division during El-Rufai’s second term disclosed this in a interview on Arise TV on Thursday.
The ex-Army Chief recounted how the ex-governor charged them to take the fight into the bush and get rid of the bandits.
He claimed that no ransom was paid to bandits during El-Rufai’s tenure.
“When I was GOC, he (El-Rufai) was the governor at that time during his second term, and I was GOC from March to August 2021- it was ZERO negotiation. There was no issue of ransom.
“We went after the bandits. We gave them the beating of their lives to the extent the Kaduna- Birnin Gwari highway, getting down to Tegina Mokwa was opened.
“The Kaduna- Abuja highway became safe. There was virtually zero incident. We took the fight to the bandits into the bush.” Ali-Keffi said.
Recall that El-Rufai had in a recent interview on Channels TV maintained his stance against banditry and eradication of bandits rather than rehabilitating them.
The ex-governor had in the interview also accused his successor, Uba Sani of negotiating and paying ransom to bandits in the state.