The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has advocated the bombing of all the country’s forests in order to eliminate banditry.
El-Rufai, who spoke on Arise TV, said though there will be collateral damage, it was the best in order to end the killings.
Noting that the country’s forest reserve will also be affected, the Governor said it can be replanted after the Nigerian Air Force must have done the job.
He told Arise TV: “With the level of massacre by bandits as witnessed in the state in recent times, people, most often, wonder why security forces and the government are unable to prevent killings.
“It’s is a major problem.
“The security agencies are doing their best, but they are over-stretched.
“Nigerian Armed Forces are involved in internal security operations in about 32, 33 states.
“We have about 150,000 of them.
“Our Police have not recruited in many years.
“When we came into office, we had about 13,000 policemen in Kaduna.
“Today, we have 11,000.
“Yesterday, I was talking to the IG about this and he assured me that they are recruiting 10,000 policemen.
“Okay, 10,000 policemen across 36 states.
How many more can I get?
“So, the reality is that we don’t have enough boots on the ground to address the myriad of security challenges that we face.
“And these security challenges are asymmetric, they are widespread, they are everywhere.
“There’s no part of Nigeria that is not facing one security problem or the other.”
El-Rufai, as solution, suggested more holistic approach, including “ramping up number of boots, more technology, more investments in armament, a level of ruthlessness to wipe these guys once and for all.
“I have always believed that we should carpet-bomb the forest.
“Ee can re-plant the trees after, but let’s carpet-bomb the forests, kill all of them.
“There will be collateral damage, but it’s better to wipe them out and bring peace back to our communities so that agriculture and rural economies can pick up, than to continue this touch and go, touch and go isolated responses to banditry.
“They kill people in Sokoto, you mobilise the Army there and chase them out.
“They move to Kebbi.
“From Kebbi, if they are bombed, they move to Kaduna.
“What should be done is to bomb them from the air, ground.
“Troops on the ground at the same time in all five, six states of the North West plus Niger.
“And this problem can be sorted out in my view, in weeks.
“I believe the levels of insecurity now are at a tipping point and something is got to give.
“My hope is that what will give is the end of this banditry once and for all.
“It is a problem.”