A coalition of former members of the House of Representatives, under the banner of House to the Rescue (HTC), has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s approach of negotiating with bandits, saying the strategy is aggravating insecurity and emboldening violent criminals across the country.
The group, in a statement jointly signed by its zonal coordinators, Muhammed Soba (North-West), Zakari Mohammed (North-Central), Olasupo Abiodun (South-West), Sadiq Ibrahim (North-East), Uko Nkole (South-East), and Bassey Ewa (South-South), said the federal government’s alleged back-channel talks with criminal networks amounted to an abdication of responsibility.
HTC said it was alarming that while Nigerians were reeling from fresh waves of abductions in Kano, Kwara, Kebbi States, and other states, the Tinubu administration was “sitting at the same table with those who abduct children, violate women, terrorise communities and undermine the authority of the Nigerian state.
“This is not leadership. This is abdication of responsibility,” the group declared. “Negotiation has never worked anywhere.”
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The former lawmakers warned that history shows that dialogue with violent non-state actors only encourages more bloodshed.
They cited Colombia’s experience with FARC, Mexico’s contacts with cartels, the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan, Somalia’s destabilisation through warlord engagement, and Mali’s failed deals with jihadists.
“The global evidence is indisputable: negotiating with violent non-state actors leads to more violence, not peace. Nigeria will not be the first country where bandit negotiations succeed,” they said.
HTC accused the federal government of legitimising criminality, signaling weakness, incentivising more kidnappings, undermining security agencies, and eroding public trust in state authority.
The group asserted that the Tinubu administration’s posture has created “a dangerous business model where abductors take citizens and wait for government representatives to arrive with negotiations instead of force.”
The group issued a four-point demand to the Tinubu administration, calling for an immediate halt to all negotiations with bandits and other violent groups, a coordinated and intelligence-driven operation to rescue victims and dismantle kidnapping syndicates, a clear public security strategy, and National Assembly oversight to probe government officials involved in unauthorised contacts with criminals.
HTC said any government that prioritises compromise with criminals over the safety of citizens has lost the moral authority to lead.
“The government’s first duty is the protection of lives and property. Nigerians deserve a country where criminals fear the state, not a country where the state fears criminals,” the statement added.
