Banditry is rebellion against neglect of poor people, says ex-minister

A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says banditry is a rebellion against the neglect of the poor people in the country.

Shittu made the observation on Thursday in an interview on Arise Television.

“What is happening in the North-West and North-East in particular is a rebellion against the neglect of the poor.

“Now that we have the issue of banditry on our hands, we have over the years been spending billions of naira in kinetic approach and it’s because people left out of education and civilization that Westernization brings about are rebelling,” he noted.

The former minister said the level of education was the reason why there is little or no records of banditry in the South-West.

Shittu stated that bandits are people rebelling due to lack of education.

He said: “Why there is no banditry in the South-West is because we chose to educate the children.

“When you fail to educate people, over the years they will grow up to find out that the social inequality like some people enjoying light, some driving cars, and they are left out.

“This makes them start rebellion against the society.”

The former minister had earlier advice President Bola Tinubu to give bandits a promising future through negotiation.

He was of the opinion that most of the bandits are able-bodied men who the Federal Government should retain, noting that a non-kinetic approach in dealing with banditry would bring about a lot of results.