Nigeria’s presidency has declared unequivocally that it was not deploying excessive force in tackling armed bandits, saying its “limitation is the fear of heavy casualties of innocent villagers”.

It was reported that bandits, on Friday morning, carried out a raid on government girls secondary school and abducted 317 school girls. The latest attack was the third mass kidnapping of school children in the last month in the North raising fears among Nigerians in the rural communities.

The Spokesperson to the president, Garba Shehu, issued a statement following the recent kidnap of Zamfara school girls, saying that he was sending a strong warning to bandits and their sponsors, that the present administration would not succumb to blackmail by bandits who abduct school student inorder to get ransom payments.

“No criminal group can be too strong to be defeated by the government, the only thing standing between our security forces and the bandits are the rule of engagement”.

“We have the capacity to deploy force against the bandits in the villages where they operates , but our limitation is the fear of heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human shields by the bandits,” he said.

The presidency also noted that hostage crisis involves patience, in order to avert harm to the victims that may lead to death at the hand of their captors.

He admonished the bandits, that they should not take their restrain for humanitarian goals of protecting innocent lives as a weakness or a sign of fear or resolution and appealed to the state government, “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles,” warning that policy might boomerang disastrously.

Shehu also advised States and local governments to be more proactive by improving security around schools and their surroundings.

Lolo Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News