RIBADU WARNS GUNS ALONE WILL NOT END BANDITRY AS ARMED GROUPS EXPAND INTO TERRITORIAL CONTROL, ILLEGAL TAXATION AND CROSS BORDER CRIME
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu says Nigeria cannot defeat banditry through military operations alone and must combine force with stronger intelligence, border management, community trust, regional cooperation and socio economic interventions. Speaking through the Director of Legal Services in his office at a security dialogue in Sokoto, Ribadu warned that banditry has evolved beyond kidnapping and cattle rustling into territorial control, illegal taxation and wider disruption of agriculture and commerce. He outlined five priorities for Sokoto and said security success should be judged not only by arrests or weapons recovered but by whether displaced families return, farms become productive, schools reopen and public confidence is restored.