Bandits are terrorists – Garba Shehu tackles Lai Mohammed

Garba Shehu, the media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari has denounced the claim of information minister Lai Mohammed that bandits terrorising the country, are common criminals.

According to Garba Shehu, the murderous bandits are terrorists just like Boko Haram insurgents.

“But this too ‘bandits’ who have the resources and technology to shoot down a military fighter jet are not bandits at all – but rather highly organised crime syndicates with huge resources and weaponry.

“Yet, they are essentially no different to Boko Haram in this regard who is now cornered,” argued the presidential spokesman

Recall that a few days, the information minister Lai Mohammed described the bandits ravaging the North as ordinary criminals, as pressure mounts for Mr Buhari to activate measures to treat them as a terrorist group.

Mr Shehu’s comments come amidst the Buhari-led regime’s reluctance to declare the extremist groups as such publicly.