A former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima, has urged President Bola Tinubu to dialogue with bandits and Boko Haram insurgents terrorising the Northern part of the country.
Yerima, who made the call in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, appealed to the president to follow the example of late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who negotiated with militants in the Niger Delta in a bid to bring peace to the region in 2007.
He said: “I am advising President Tinubu and the government to, first of all, find time to sit with these bandits, just like late President Yar’Adua sat with Niger Delta militants in the past. Because a majority of them are Nigerians, even though there are some foreigners among them.
“But Nigerians among them can be convinced as the Niger Delta militants were convinced and empowered to stop.
“If that fails, then the government can use force on them wherever they are.”