*Tells how it helped terrorists regroup, reorganise
By KEMI KASUMU
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major-General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, declared on Wednesday that the amnesty programme of the Federal Government has failed to achieve its purpose.
Rather than checkmate terrorism and banditry, General Lagbaja said the amnesty programme for bandits and terrorists in Zamfara and other states, has instead helped the terrorists to regroup and reorganise.
Lagbaja disclosed this when he hosted thw Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to the COAS, the amnesty programme had inadvertently furnished criminal elements with a golden opportunity to regroup, reorganize, and mercilessly target defenseless citizens.
“We also have the issue of the amnesty programme that has been instituted, and which has failed not only in Zamfara but so many other states of the North West.
“So, I think we need to look at this issue of the amnesty programme for the criminal elements have proven to be incorrigible”, he said.
Lagbaja said he had directed the deployment of more platforms and the release of funds to reactivate more operations to boost troops’ morale in the state.
He said Zamfara crisis is a mix of farmer-herder clashes, ethnic confrontations, and the quest for economic empowerment driven by mining activities.
Earlier, the Governor appealed to the Nigerian Army for continuous support in the deployment of more military wares to support military operations to restore peace in the state.
