Kagara abduction: HURIWA faults negotiation with bandits

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the Niger State government’s negotiation with bandits suspected to have kidnapped 27 students and three teachers of Government Science College, Kagara.

Briefing journalists on the State of the Nation, Friday in Abuja, the National Coordinator, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said any government or person that negotiates with bandits is also a terrorist.

“If you negotiate with a terrorist you are a terrorist. Any governor who negotiates with terrorists is a terrorist and he should be seen as a terrorist.

“And the people of this country must make efforts to approach the high commissions, embassies in Nigeria. They should approach international organisations, communities to tell them that look, we have terrorists governing some geographical space in this country.

“For anybody to begin to defend the indefensible positions of negotiating with a terrorist there is a problem.

“It means the person is an associate and a sympathizer of terrorism and when you sympathise with terrorism, who are you? You are a terrorist. It is completely unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if you are APC or PDP or whatever you are.”

Onwubiko accused the northern elites of having an agenda to setup an amnesty programme for bandits, stating that: “The northern elites are comparing what happened in the Niger Delta to the terrorists in the North.

“How can you justify that a group of boys will buy weapons and invade a community and begin to kill and kidnap children?

“These children they are killing are northerners. They are just wasting them. And a bunch of people are being settled.”

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