ONSA refutes El-Rufai, highlights military gains against bandits

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The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has dismissed as false and baseless claims by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that the federal government is paying and feeding bandits under the guise of non-kinetic engagement.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, ONSA stressed that neither the NSA’s office nor any arm of President Bola Tinubu’s administration has ever paid ransom or offered inducements to criminal gangs.

Instead, it cited recent military operations that have killed or captured notorious bandit leaders, dismantled terror networks, and restored relative calm in parts of Kaduna and other states.

“This claim is baseless. At no time has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administration, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals,” the statement read.

ONSA listed bandit kingpins such as Boderi, Baleri, Sani Yellow Janburos, Buhari, and Boka as among those neutralised, while Ansaru leaders once entrenched in Kaduna had been arrested. It also accused the El-Rufai of disrespecting fallen soldiers.

“For a former governor to deny these sacrifices on national television is both unfair and deeply insulting to the memories of our security personnel. The fight against banditry is a collective struggle, not a platform for political point-scoring,” the office stated.

Backing the defence, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu pointed to what he described as“remarkable progress” in the last two years. He disclosed that 11,259 hostages have been freed across the North-West between 2023 and 2025, while several bandit gangs have been dismantled.

Ribadu contrasted this with the Buhari era, when Kaduna alone recorded 1,192 killings and 3,348 kidnappings, and Benue State lost over 5,000 lives.

But El-Rufai, appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, insisted the government is “empowering bandits” rather than defeating them.

He accused the Tinubu administration of running a “kiss-the-bandits” policy by paying criminal gangs allowances and supplying them with food.

“What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-kinetic. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits. It’s a national policy driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser,” he alleged.

The former governor, who governed Kaduna for eight years, doubled down on his hardline stance, declaring that the “only repentant bandit is a dead one” and urging a ruthless military onslaught.

While El-Rufai maintains that inducements embolden terrorists, the federal government insists its blend of kinetic and non-kinetic strategies is gradually yielding results, even though challenges remain.