The Niger State governor, Umar Bago, has said his administration was considering going into dialogue with bandits and terrorists who have been wreaking havoc in the state.
The governor disclosed this after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
While appealing for collaboration between the state and federal government in restoring peace to the state, the governor noted that full military action would be activated if the non-kinetic approach fails.
Speaking to state house correspondents, the governor said: “We are looking at two options: first, non-kinetic, as a government, we have put in machineries to start talking to the bandits.
“We have also created a ministry for nomadic, and pastoral affairs to look at the issues of Fulani herdsmen.
“You also need to understand that Niger State has the largest congregation of Fulani.
“Niger State is 8.3 million hectares of land with bodies of water, and the environment is very good for grazing.
“A lot of Fulani across the world, not just Africa, converge in Niger State, so we don’t want them to leave, We don’t want any major military activities, We want to talk to them.
“But if we don’t get to that level of dialogue, then probably, we have to go fully military.”
This is coming a few days after terrorists ambushed over 20 military personnel in the state.
The personnel were said to be responding to a distress call in Wushishi local area when they got attacked.
A military helicopter that was also deployed to rescue the victims crashed in Chukuba Village of Shiroro local government.
