The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, on Tuesday, claimed that the federal government does not negotiate with terrorists.

Bwala, in an interview on Channels TV, however, stated that the complexity of Nigeria’s security situation sometimes forces governments to make difficult decisions.

He said, “There was a time the federal government was negotiating (with terrorists), and I think that el-Rufai (the former Kaduna governor) once talked about a national policy at that time, when they said both states and the federal government can be in a situation where they will have to negotiate.

“Because if your duty is to preserve the life of people, and citizens of Nigeria are in danger, and negotiation is the only way to save them, and you have to save them, then you have to do all that you need to do to save them at that time.

“But President Tinubu came with this zero tolerance on negotiation because it didn’t fit into the terrorism financing. You see, you are constructively financing terrorism without knowing it.

“So instead of elements that are sponsoring them by giving them the money as ransom to collect the people, they also use the ransom money to buy more weapons.

“So the federal government does not tolerate the idea of negotiation.”

Bwala Speaks On The Release Of Kebbi Schoolgirls

The presidential aide, while speaking on the recently abducted schoolchildren in Kebbi, said several factors can influence the release of kidnap victims, including fear by abductors that holding on to captives could expose them to greater danger.

Bwala said, “There are lots of factors that can occasion that. One, you know that there are individuals who call themselves negotiators. When it comes to negotiation, it’s not in all cases that money is involved.

“There are cases where the people might feel that if they don’t release these people, there’s going to be a bigger problem than they can manage. That can serve as an incentive for them to release the people.

“Sometimes, people they listen to, they could be these clerics or anybody they could listen to, can also be a factor.

“At other times, it can also be that the federal government has sort of encircled them in terms of saying, from the intelligence point of view, you at least have an idea of where they are, right, but you have a difficulty of going to bomb there because then you have soft people with them.

“But then you are giving them a warning, and they can decide to turn them over. At other times, on their own, they can choose to do that.”

He further stated that some families and state governments still end up paying ransom to their abductors.

The presidential aide also insisted that the federal government neither paid for the release of the Kebbi schoolgirls nor intends to pay for abductees in the future.

Reacting to a video in which bandits claimed the Federal Government had negotiated with them, Bwala said their statements are propaganda intended to intimidate the public.

He said claims by the abductors lack credibility because they have not provided evidence, such as “how much they collect” or “who they collected from”.

Bwala said rebuilding trust will take time because the problem “was inherited by this government”.

He added that the administration remains focused on resolving insecurity, saying “our eye is on the ball”.