Dingyadi said this on Tuesday, September 14, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Commenting on the ongoing military operations against bandits in Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and other states where their activities have been alarming, he said the present administration intended to reintegrate repentant bandits into the larger society, saying the government would closely monitor those who have turned a new leaf to ensure they do not return to their old way of life.

He said “Anybody willing to surrender and do it honourably and honestly; the government is ready to listen. The government is ready to see what they can do to settle them down without much cost. When you talk of amnesty, it is a relative term and what the Federal Government is trying to say is that: ‘Let us see those who have surrendered their arms, let us listen to them, let us chronicle them, let us receive them’; we cannot just throw these people away because they are all Nigerians. Of course, they are criminals, they have committed atrocities, they have committed crimes, but according to the international laws, when you surrender from a war zone, you are not killed, you are not maimed, you are allowed to have your say. We are listening to them to see how we can integrate them into the larger society. What we are trying to do is to get them settled in their various communities, to let them have a kind of means of livelihood so that they can integrate peacefully and honourably into the society.”

The minister who spoke after a national security council meeting at Aso Rock on Tuesday, November 17, stated that bandits are now relying on hit-and-run tactics.

Dingyadi said “These bandits have already been degraded, so there is no way they resuscitate themselves and take over. I think they have already been degraded, what they are doing is just hit-and-run kind of tactics. So, we don’t see any sign of them coming to take over or overpower, I think they have been well degraded and they are just trying to show their presence in a very cowardice manner. Let me say that in whatever one does, you must have a timeline, you must have your targets and you must work towards achieving those targets. We have our timelines, we have our targets and we are working towards achieving those targets.”

The Minister who appeared on Channels television’s ‘Politics Today’ said the new police unit was created because there are insecurity problem and assignments initially carried out by the defunct SARS unit that had to be done by another.

He said “Many people have expressed concerns about the swift reaction but we need to understand that this issue of insecurity is at every hour presence and we have to take steps to fill in the gap and that is why we established a new unit to replace SARS. The assignment is done by SARS before they were disbanded is there to be performed by somebody.  So, we needed to quicken the process to ensure that there is a unit in place that is in charge of these things. And we can not take them in to take charge of these without giving them training and a new order so that they do not go and repeat the same mistake as SARS. The AK-47 you are talking about, we think we are satisfied with the way it is being used and we have no intention to change the weapon that they are using. But with the changing trends in this century, we may consider the possibility of bringing in new types of weapons that you see in other places. But for now, we are going to continue with the AK-47, it serves the purpose that they are meant to serve.”