Malami: With Court Order, Fed Govt Can Now Crush Bandits – The Nation Reports

By Eric Ikhilae, Abuja and AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

– Why government approached court to declare bandits terrorists

– Gumi: Declaration politically-motivated, won’t change anything

Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said yesterday that the Federal Government is now poised to crush gunmen terrorizing the country following a court order declaring bandits as terrorists.

Malami said the court order has strengthened government’s hands to come down heavily on terrorists in conformity with international standards on the rules of engagement with such elements.

But Islamic scholar,Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, dismissed the development as political.

The court decision, he said yesterday, would change nothing, the same way government’s previous declaration of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has not stopped the separatist organisation from its activities.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had declared bandits anywhere in the country as terrorists.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the Federal Government, said groups, such as Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda are nothing other than terrorists.

Reacting to the court’s verdict, Malami said government would now deal ruthlessly with all terrorists groups and their sponsors with a view to bringing a lasting solution to the nation’s security challenges.

“The development is a pointer to the commitment of the Federal Government to adhere to the international standards in respecting the rules of engagement in the fight against terrorism, separatists organisations, insurgency and banditry in the country,” he said in a statement through his media aide, Dr. Umar Gwandu.

Malami said his office “in collaboration with relevant government agencies, including security operatives, are working assiduously to do the needful to take full advantage of this declaration.”

Government will gazette, publish and publicise the proscription order in due course, he added.

Northern Youths hail court decision
The court decision was well received by the Northern Youths Council of Nigeria which said the action of the Federal Government going to court on the matter was better than never.

The group, in a statement in Kaduna by its president, Isah Abubakar,and the Director General of Medi and Publicity,Mock Kure, said it welcomes “full military operation in Northwestern and North Central parts of the country as it is happening in the Northeast against Boko Haram and ISWAP elements which has drastically reduced their activities.”

It asked the security agencies to ” arrest and prosecute anybody seen giving the terrorists moral support be it materially, morally or otherwise no matter how highly or lowly placed.”

It pledged its support for the authorities in their quest to “stamp out terrorism in the North and Nigeria at large.”

Declaration is political; won’t change anything – Gumi
But Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi,was far from impressed yesterday by the development.

He branded it a decision taken for mere political expediency, and one that will change nothing.

“I think the Federal Government has succumbed to media blackmail by a section of the country,” he said in a statement issued through his media consultant, Malam Tukur Mamu.

“It will not have any practical value because even before the declaration they were being fought and treated as terrorists,” he said.

Continuing, Gumi said: “So, it’s just a nomenclature which I believe will not change the dynamics on ground.

“If you can remember IPOB was also declared a terrorist organisation, the declaration was even backed by the order of the court but as you can see even the international community did not recognize FG’s declaration of IPOB. So it has failed to be effective or to achieve the desired results.”

“They have not been banned from travelling to other countries while their citizenship remains intact, it has not been denounced. So what type of declaration is that?

“I sincerely hope that Nigerians will not take the herdsmen as terrorists but should regard the criminality of the few among them against innocent people as acts of terrorism just as we see IPOB and their attacks on security agencies and other northern citizens as acts of terrorism. Very few herdsmen are bandits if you go through their population.

“I hope this declaration will not give the license to people to be profiling herdsmen in general as terrorists and taking laws into their hands against them. It will cause more mayhem.

“The declaration will not change anything; it will not change the dynamics. Already the military is engaging them. It didn’t stop them from kidnapping and killing. The declaration will not end their aggression against the society.

“The Fulani banditry is a socio-economic problem. We have seen it, we interacted widely with them. We told the the way out. It can only be won through engagement, dialogue and justice. That is why today there is relative peace in the Niger Delta because government has accepted the painful reality of rehabilitating and empowering them.

“There has to be equitable distribution of wealth in Nigeria and justice for everyone. People don’t want to accept it: before the issue of banditry that now affects all of us, the Fulanis had suffered so much.

“They have lost their legitimate means of livelihood, I mean their cows through cattle rustling and extortion by security agencies. That has to be addressed as a means of genuine reconciliation and integration. They should have sense of belonging.”

Gumi, it was, who went into the dens of the terrorists in Niger and Zamfara states to dialogue with them in the aftermath of the kidnapping of students in the two states.

Why FG approached court to declare bandits terrorists
The Nation learnt yesterday that the Federal Government decided to approach the court for the order following a directive by President Muhammed Buhari upon receiving a legal opinion from AGF Malami on the issue.

Malami had, in an October 29, 2021 letter to the President, advised him to move against the various bandit groups in the country, particularly the likes of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda because their activities were threatening national security and existence.

“Sir, the activities of these groups and individuals no doubt constitute a breakdown of public order and safely, a threat to national security and a threat to the corporate existence of the country,” he had said in the letter.

“The activities of these groups and individuals, as confirmed by security report, include unwholesome acts of banditry which include kidnappings, mass abductions, cattle rustling, attacks and killings in communities and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties.

“Yan Bindiga, Yan Ta’adda and other similar banditry groups have in recent times engaged in the mass abduction of school children and other citizens across the North-west and North central states of the country.

“These groups have engaged in attacks and wanton destruction of lives and properties in communities, kidnappings for ransom, kidnappings for marriage, mass abductions, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks on commuters, and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties.

“All the above-mentioned activities of Yan Bindiga, Yon Ta’adda and other similar banditry groups constitute acts of terrorism, threat to national security and the corporate existence of the country.

“It has therefore become imperative for the President, Commander-in-Chief to declare Yan Bindiga, Yan Ta’adda and other similar banditry groups as proscribed organisations in accordance with the provisions of Section 2(1) (a} (b) (c) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act of 2011 (as amended).

“A fundamental condition for the success of an application to the Federal High Court by my office to declare an organisation proscribed is the exhibition before the court of a presidential approval to that effect.”

Buhari gave his approval on November 3, 2021 following which Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, to lodge an application before the Federal High Court, Abuja to that effect.

The application, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2021 was filed on November 9, 2021 by the Assistant Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation and Head, Complex Case Group (CCP), Federal Ministry of Justice, Aminu Alilu.

Alilu argued the ex-parte application on Thursday with Justice Taiwo Taiwo agreeing with the applicant that the reliefs sought were necessary in view of the nefarious activities of bandits and their effects on the nation’s life, particularly on the people and its economy.

He consequently issued an order declaring the activities of the “Yan Bindiga group and the Yan Ta’adda group and other similar groups” in any part of the country, especially in the North West and North Central geo-political zones as “acts of terrorism and illegality”.

He proscribed the existence of the Yan Bindiga group and the Yan Ta’adda group as well as other similar groups in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North West and North Central geo-political zones, “either in groups or as individuals by whatever names they are called.”

Justice Taiwo restrained “any person or group of persons from participating in any manner whatsoever, in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intention or otherwise of the Yan Bindiga Group and the Yan Ta’adda Group under any other name or platform however called or described.”

The judge also proscribed all other groups in the country, irrespective of their names, but whose activities and objectives are similar to those of Yan Bindiga Group and the Yan Ta’adda Group.

Such objectives and activities, Justice Taiwo noted, “include but not limited to banditry, kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria.”

Justice Taiwo then ordered the Federal Government to publish the prosecution order in the Official Gazette and two national dailies.

The Federal Government had stated, in affidavit filed along with its application, that security reports by security agencies had confirmed that the bandit groups were responsible for the increasing cases of killing, abduction rape, kidnapping and related acts of criminality in the North East, North Central geo-political zones and other parts of the country.

It attributed to the groups, the growing cases of “banditry, incessant kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria, particularly in the North West and North Central States in Nigeria are being carried out by Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda Groups and other groups associated with or engaged in the same or similar activities as Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda Groups in Nigeria.”

The Federal Government added that Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other similar groups have also been involved in killings of the personnel of the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies across the North-West and North Central geo-political zones of the country.

The government noted that the activities of the groups have resulted in the disruption of commercial, educational and farming activities in the North-West and North Central region in Nigeria.

It added’ “the activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other similar groups constitute acts of terrorism that can lead to a breakdown of public order and safety and is a threat to national security and the corporate existence of Nigeria.”

– The Nation