How El-Rufai backed military onslaught that crushed bandits without ransom – Retired General
Retired Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi, former General Officer Commanding (GOC) Division 1 of the Nigerian Army, has revealed how he worked with then-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to crush banditry without engaging in negotiations or ransom payments.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, Ali-Keffi recounted his tenure as GOC between March and August 2021, when banditry plagued Kaduna and neighboring states. He stressed that during that period, both he and El-Rufai stood firm against any form of negotiation with criminal groups.
“When I was General Officer Commanding, he was the governor at that time during his second term, and I was GOC from March to August 2021—it was zero negotiation. There was no issue of ransom,” he said.
Ali-Keffi recalled the 2021 Greenfield University attack, in which five students were killed, noting that despite the tragedy, the military and state government refused to bow to ransom demands. Instead, they launched decisive offensives.
“We went after the bandits. We gave them the beating of their lives to the extent that the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway, getting up to Tegina Mokwa was opened. The Kaduna-Abuja highway became safe—there was virtually zero incident. We took the fight to the bandits into the bush,” the retired General stated.
He emphasized that while it was not the governor giving direct military orders, he fully supported El-Rufai’s stance against negotiations with bandits, insisting that the approach restored confidence and safety across major highways in the region.
