The Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, has said that the Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) do not support financial payment to bandits terrorising different states across the country.

Onumajuru said that experience had shown that such an action does not work. “The armed forces of Nigeria do not support the payment of money to criminal groups. The armed forces of Nigeria are not part of that arrangement.

“However, the armed forces of Nigeria have a DDR programme with other stakeholders, the Ministry of Justice, and the Office of the National Security Advisor for criminals that have shown remorse and want to toe the line for peace, to surrender their weapons, undergo a thorough profiling to ensure the extent of their culpability, and then they are transferred for the DDR programme,” he said on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily yesterday.

He noted that rather than pay bandits, the armed forces have a national DDR programme anchored around Operation Safe Corridor in Gombe State and Zamfara State for the North-East and North-West regions, respectively.

“The essence of this national framework is for bandits who clearly want another route to leaving criminality. You surrender your weapons, and you are profiled in detail.

“Those who are found really culpable face the law. Now, this is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice. Don’t forget that some of the people were forcibly conscripted, kept in the bust for God knows why.

“Once it is decided that this set of people is not really culpable after a detailed profiling, they are transferred to the DDR centres in Gombe, and they start going through the DDR process,” he explained.

On border security, the chief of defence operations said that communities must feel a sense of belonging and responsibility to help strengthen Nigeria’s borders.