ACCORDING to the report from the Sun, the former Minister of Police Affairs, Chief Jelili Oyewale Adesiyan suggests that, despite the tensions and conflict that arose during the 2015 election, President Jonathan’s concession to President Buhari helped to avert violence and civil unrest.
However, he argues that many of the militants and bandits who had been employed to cause chaos were not willing to go back to their homes and reintegrate into society. He states that the bandits stayed in the bush and continued to commit crimes.
He said, “On the election day, while some of us were in our various states, monitoring the election, a lot of tension had built here and there. We had held security meetings. We knew what they were planning. We knew a lot of things that had happened. In order to save Nigeria, Jonathan just sacrificed himself in order to ensure peace in Nigeria. He went in and called Buhari. He congratulated him, even when the election was still on. This settled all the tension and drum of war.
So, those (bandits) that were engaged to cause problems were living in the bush, including the Sambisa forest and everywhere. But to return them to where they brought them became a problem. This is the cause of banditry till today. The people (bandits) just shared the $ 1 million given to them and said they were not going back.”
