How I engaged bandits through back channels as Governor – Tambuwal

Former Sokoto State Governor and current Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has revealed that his administration once engaged bandits through backdoor channels in a bid to tackle insecurity.

Tambuwal made the disclosure on Friday while speaking on Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today. He explained that banditry in Nigeria is driven by both local and foreign elements, making it one of the country’s most complex security challenges.

“We did engage bandits through backdoor channels,” he admitted. “Bandits are a combination of foreign elements and Nigerians. With the problems in the Sahel, particularly from Libya downwards, we have been dealing with this challenge for decades.”

The former governor noted that the roots of the crisis date back as far as the 1980s, when the collapse of Chad led to an influx of arms into Nigeria. “Our borders are not properly manned, so you can’t say there are no foreign elements in this banditry. To them, it’s criminality and a business—they are making money out of it,” he added.

Tambuwal drew a distinction between Boko Haram insurgents and bandits, saying while the former operates with a defined command structure and ideological drive, banditry is more disorganized and profit-driven.

“Boko Haram, you can say, have a command structure and are ideologically driven. But with banditry, even though they have some leadership, they often fight among themselves, which makes it harder to understand,” he said.