Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State says the locations of bandits are known.
Speaking with journalists at Aso Rock, on Thursday, he said maps have revealed the hideout of the bandits, but before anyone can go there, the person has to be well equipped.
He said, “Yes, we know where these bandits are, we have the maps. But somebody has to go in and kill them. I can’t do that. If that somebody doesn’t have enough men, doesn’t have enough fire power, doesn’t have technology, no one is going to commit suicide.
“This is why under this administration, Nigerian governors forum collaborated with the federal government to take money from the excess crude account to buy super Tocano jets and other armaments to strengthen our Defence system,” he added.
While advocating simultaneous air and land attack on the terrorists by contiguous states, he said the piecemeal attacks had not been effective enough to curb the spate of kidnapping in the North West.
El-Rufai, who said the terrorists seamlessly move to neighbouring states because of the vast forest range when they were attacked and chased out of Kaduna, stressed that they now engaged in kidnapping because of the lucrative nature of the “business” of kidnapping.
The governor said although a simultaneous land and air assault in all affected states might lead to the loss of innocent lives, his administration was willing to risk the collateral damage to secure Kaduna and its environs.
