Senator Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya, who represents Katsina Central Senatorial District, claims that bandits have been designated terrorists and do not deserve to live or be spared for whatever reason.
He urged the Nigerian military and other security forces to take the war to the woods, sacrifice a few citizens held captive, and blast everyone in the woods to put an end to ransom attacks in the country.
In an interview with DAILY POST in Abuja, the unhappy legislator said that the government has been doing its best, but that it is not enough, in the face of incessant attacks with human fatalities in Katsina and the other northwest states.
He maintained that since the threat had defied all previous efforts, it was necessary to take severe measures.
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The legislator had urged that terrorist hideouts should be attacked right away during the Senate plenary on Tuesday, which was presided over by Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege.
He told the DAILY POST that security personnel should not spare anyone, especially hostages who have been exploited as human shields by terrorists to avoid security officers' onslaught.
According to him, security personnel, including civilians, are well aware of the terrorists' hideousness, making bombs of their homes easy to target.
"I said in the chamber that they are terrorists and that they deserved to die since they had been declared terrorists," he claimed. Let's bomb a few civilians who are held captive. This insecurity problem will not go away unless we do so.
"Since we know where they live in the woods, why don't we bomb them all?" They are terrorists because they kidnap, abduct for ransom, and kill people, so why should they be spared?
"You can see the government claiming they're trying their best on my Tuesday contribution, but their best isn't enough." That is exactly what I stated because we cannot sit and watch as terrorists slaughter, attack, and kidnap our people every day and nothing is done about it.
"Then I went to the Federal Government and told them that they needed to do something serious. Enough is enough, and we must move decisively to combat these terrorists.
In response to Governor Bello Masari of Katsina State's statement a few weeks ago that everyone should be permitted to have arms for self-defense, the congressman noted that the governor spoke from experience, having tried everything but succeeded.
"Of course, the governor and other security services, including the military, the police, the DSS, and the NIA, have given it their all." Perhaps they aren't doing enough, which is why the governor remarked, "Let everyone bear arms for self-defense and ensure that at least one can protect himself."
He also disclosed how he once confronted the Chief of Air Staff over the use of fighter jets not being sufficient.
"I invited the Chief of Air Staff a while ago and told him to go and withdraw all of his planes from Katsina because once they start flying, the noise will be bothering the people for no reason, and as soon as they land, bandits will start operating, and I asked, what is the point then?"
"Then he informed me that the silent jet had been ordered." Allow them to come where they are. It would be sufficient if the quiet jets could fly into forests and bomb terrorists, since we have been asking for God to change their hearts and for God to hear our prayers, but this is not the case.
"There isn't a single day in the National Assembly that goes by without a bill or motion dealing with security issues, particularly in northwest states like Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, and others." "Are we going to keep our hands folded and let this happen?"
The congressman went on to explain that he was a member of the governor's amnesty team, and that they all went to the bandits' hideout at their own risk with an amnesty option that they agreed to, but that after five months, they restarted attacks and kidnappings for ransom.
"Let me tell you that my governor, Alhaji Aminu Masari, assembled a team and we went into the forest with the option of amnesty because we wrote them; we reached out to them before going into the bush, and our families were scared."
"Let all of us go into the bush," the governor stated, "where I was about 100 kilometres away from the state to negotiate amnesty." We talked about it, and the terrorists agreed, so they started strikes on our most susceptible areas after only four to five months.
"Moreover, security forces such as the military, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Police, the DSS, and others are not under the executive governor, and the National Assembly has appropriated billions, but where are the funds?" I challenged the Chief of Defence Staff a while back in the Senate chambers.
"I informed him that we have been giving you billions of naira, to the point where we gave you N450 billion in 2020 alone, but only N30 billion was spent for arms and ammunition." Imagine this scenario. I opposed him, arguing that N30 billion for arms and equipment was insufficient to combat militants out of the N450 billion allotted.
"Where are the Tucano jets, which have been widely publicised?" I thought the National Assembly had passed a supplemental budget to allow for the acquisition of Tucano jets, but where are they now? So, everyone must band together and muster the courage to figure out how to get out of this situation," he stated.