Sani Shinkafi, former chairman of the Committee on Prosecution of Bandits Related Offences In Zamfara State, has called on the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to stop posting corps members to some states bedevilled by bandit attacks.
He cautioned the scheme against sending corps members to Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states.
Sani Shinkafi’s advised comes barely two weeks after eight NYSC members were kidnapped along a highway in Zamfara State by bandits and later demanded N4 million in ransom for at least one of the victims.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, he said: “I’m calling on the leadership of NYSC to stop posting youth corps members to Sokoto, Kebbi, and even Zamfara.”
He criticised the governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal’s refusal to engage in a “peace dialogue” with repentant bandits, arguing that the stance taken by the administration of Lawal’s predecessor, Bello Matawalle, to dialogue with the terrorists was beneficial to securing the release of abductees in Zamfara.
“If this type of situation happens, we use to reach out to these repented bandits and they will would work with security agencies to either rescue them (victims) or collect them from their captors without paying any ransom.
“But this administration, I am telling you, many people were killed, many people were kidnapped. More than 2,000 people were killed and kidnapped. No place in the 14 local governments of Zamfara is safe,” he added.
