Former Sokoto State governor and now senator, Aminu Tambuwal, has admitted that his administration once engaged bandits through backdoor negotiations. Speaking on Channels Television, Tambuwal explained that Nigeria’s banditry crisis is a messy mix of local and foreign actors, with roots stretching back decades to the fallout of conflicts in the Sahel and arms influx since the 1980s.
According to him, Boko Haram is different because it is ideology-driven, while banditry is mostly about money. “It’s business to them,” he said, adding that bandits even fight among themselves without a clear structure of command.
His admission comes amid fresh controversy. Former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai accused the federal government of secretly paying bandits across states like Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Kebbi, and Sokoto. In his words, the National Security Adviser’s office is “unclear and incompetent” in handling insecurity and cannot deny what citizens and clerics have repeatedly exposed.
But the NSA’s office quickly fired back, dismissing El-Rufai’s claims as baseless. It insisted that no ransom payments are being made under the current administration, stressing that security forces have instead neutralized key bandit leaders in Kaduna State.
The clash highlights Nigeria’s ongoing dilemma—between those who see secret engagement as a necessary evil and those who argue it only strengthens criminals. Tambuwal’s rare confession has now added a new layer to the debate, raising tough questions about how far government has really gone in cutting deals with bandits.
