End Talks With Kidnappers, Boost Community Policing, Experts Tell FG

A security expert and board member of ASHRAAF Islamic Foundation, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Ajia, has warned the Federal Government against negotiating with terrorists and kidnappers.

Ajia also declared that community policing would tackle the menace if properly implemented.

He spoke with the journalists at the sidelines of the 9th Annual Ramadan Lecture and Prayer for the Nation, organised by the Ashraaf Islamic Foundation in Abuja.

The programme was themed: Faith & Justice: The Islamic Judicial Perspective On Terrorism And Banditry in Nigeria.

He said: “So, I must say to you that this Ramadan lecture is a very unique one, because the topic bothers about the typical issue that is confronting our nation.

“All the speakers are looking at the perspective and how to assist the country in tackling the problem of insurgents, kidnapping and all sorts of senseless killings that are going on across Nigeria.

“And from here today, we have been able to deduce that if you go back to Faith, if you go back to the Islamic perspective on dealing with high levels of crimes, at least, I can tell you, society will be free of such heinous crimes.

“So, I will encourage our government to take away from these lectures and put some of the things that have been discussed by our scholars into action.

“The fact remains that you cannot be negotiating with kidnappers. You cannot be negotiating with insurgents. You must be practical about it.

“But also from my own background, as a security expert, I will say this thing doesn’t just start today. We must go back to the background, and as we have also been emphasising.

“We are saying that the government must stress the model of community policy. It is one of the things that can help us get out of this senseless insecurity they have in Nigeria.

Also in his lead paper, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Abuja, Professor Abdulqadir Ibrahim Abikan, recommended capital punishment for terrorists and kidnappers.

Abikan, who was represented by an Abuja-based Legal Practitioner, Barrister Adam Olorie-Aje, hinged his position on the Qur’anic provisions.

“Quran has made provision for terrorism, against terrorism and bondage. The Quran says that when anybody engages in terrorism or creates violence and force, imposes violence on people, the provision of Islam is killing, it is a form of capital punishment.

“The simplest and the most lenient provision of Islam for terrorism and banditry is haphazard amputation. When you cut the right hand, you cut the left leg. When you cut the left hand, you cut the right leg to incapacitate somebody doing that’’.

Also speaking, the Chairman and Founder of the Foundation, Dr Sharafudeen Aliagan, said the 9th edition of the lecture centred on the Islamic perspective and disputes on the issue of terrorism and banditry.

He said: “It’s quite important and very timely that we let the world know the position of Islam on the issue and the maintenance of terrorism and banditry.

“That is the reason why we have gathered everyone here, including the Christian community, to come and discuss these topical issues and let the whole world know what Islam stands for’’.