Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has defended his call for international collaboration to combat banditry in Nigeria, insisting it does not compromise the country’s sovereignty.
Aondoakaa made this clarification during an interview on Arise TV on Thursday, while highlighting the deteriorating security situation in Benue State.
“My call was in good faith. It did not in any way undermine the sovereignty of this country,” the former AGF stated, referencing the recent military operation in Sokoto State by the US military.
He pointed to the Sokoto strike as evidence of successful Nigeria-US cooperation, explaining that Nigerian authorities provided the intelligence that led to the operation.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs was emphatic that the strike in Sokoto was a collaboration between the Americans and the Nigerian government. Nigeria gave them the intelligence,” Aondoakaa said.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria urged the federal government to replicate the Sokoto model in Benue State, where bandits have taken over large swaths of territory. He revealed that in Ukum Local Government Area alone, 10 out of 13 wards are now under bandit occupation.
“At the main market in Ukum, which is the exact main market that produces yams for the country, they have settled less than three kilometers away from the main market. And that is alarming,” he noted.
Aondoakaa warned that the displacement of farmers poses a grave threat to food security in the state.
“You are talking of a situation where 80 per cent in Benue State are farmers and the farmers have been displaced. There’s a potential danger of hunger that’s more serious than the mayhem being caused by the bandits,” he said.
The former minister called for urgent military intervention, suggesting that either the Nigerian Air Force should act or that the government should seek international support similar to the Sokoto operation.
“Anywhere there is concentration, the bandits are concentrating. There’s need for either the Nigerian Air Force to move in, or if they do not have the capacity, then the same collaboration that happened with the U.S. government to flush them out,” he stated.
Drawing on his experience during former President Umaru Yar’adua’s administration, Aondoakaa recalled that the government then adopted a zero-tolerance approach toward bandits.
“Anywhere we heard there was concentration, our military used to go there to flush them out,” he said.
He emphasized that the current crisis requires setting political considerations aside and taking practical action through collaboration with neighbouring countries and international partners to restore security.
