Banditry can be eradicated if security operatives aren’t benefitting from it — Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi says banditry can be ended in the country within the remaining 17 months of the Buhari administration if security operatives are not profiting from it.

“If we can destroy that monster of insecurity, the opinion in the country will change dramatically. If we decide to go after these people without to much attachment to human rights and issues that may come up from the international communities. these people are not ghosts,” he said on Saturday during an interview on Arise TV.

Bandits have ravaged the northern part of the country in recent times, abducting people for ransom, attacking villages and raping women.

Fayemi, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, added that bandits may not be completely terminated by the Buhari administration but they can be significantly dealt with.

“We know where the bandits are, so we can neutralise them and then begin to have the opportunity. It may not be completely finished under this government, but you can do that part of it under this administration.

“Neutralise all these elements that are responsible for the chaos that they have thrown our nation into. Unless there are people within the security institutions who are benefiting from the war economy itself, there is no question that they know what to do and we can fix it in 17 months,” he said.