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Ibrahim I. Babangida @General_ibbro

”While the bandits are pleading for surrender, we must not accept their plea until every one of them is neutralized and eliminated. Afterward, I expect the military to invite negotiators and sympathizers like Sheikh Gumi and other subordinates, for comprehensive questioning.”

By Chukwudi Abiandu

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has voiced what many Nigerians, particularly victims across Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, and much of the North-West, have said quietly for years: those who grant moral cover or informal legitimacy to violent groups should no longer be treated as harmless intermediaries. They should be required, openly and lawfully, to account for the roles they have chosen to play.

Because the statement comes from a former military Head of State, a respected northern elder, and a Muslim leader, it carries unusual weight. It confronts a troubling habit in our public life: the normalization of self-appointed “negotiators” who insert themselves into crises, paint armed groups as misunderstood, and then scold government whenever firm, lawful action is proposed. That ambiguity has undermined institutions and confused the very communities that need protection most.

IBB’s intervention restores a vital boundary. National security is not a private enterprise. It is a constitutional responsibility vested in the state, supervised by elected authority, and constrained by law. Anyone who chooses to meet, advise, or speak for armed factions outside that framework must be prepared to explain, transparently, who authorized them, what assurances they offered, and whose interests they ultimately served. This is not a call for vengeance. It is a call for accountability.

Nigeria has lived too long with the consequences of mixed signals. Schools shutter in fear. Farmers abandon crops. Businesses close early. Meanwhile, unofficial back-channel deals proliferate; deals that neither protect victims nor deter future crimes. When a former Head of State says those involved should be invited for questioning, he is not endorsing harassment. He is insisting on due process,  the democratic requirement to test claims against facts.

If these mediators believe they acted in the public interest, they should welcome scrutiny. If, however, their activities emboldened criminal networks, weakened state authority, or complicated security operations, then the nation deserves honesty and correction.

Equally important is IBB’s warning that the state must not appear uncertain in confronting organized criminality. But firmness must remain anchored to justice: professional policing, lawful arrests where possible, fair trials in competent courts, and sanctions guided strictly by law. Rehabilitation belongs to those who sincerely renounce crime and submit to legal order, not to those who treat “negotiation” as a tactic to buy time.

What Babangida has done is challenge a dangerous reflex: excusing actions that normalize illegality while preaching “peace” to people already living with fear. Peace cannot stand on the foundation of impunity. It cannot coexist with private diplomacy that contradicts government policy and leaves citizens exposed, from displaced families in IDP camps in Benue, to commuters along the Abuja–Kaduna corridor, to farmers across the Middle Belt.

Nigeria needs coherence. It needs institutions that speak with one voice, citizens who insist on transparency from all actors, not only government and leaders who respect the limits of lawful authority. Rather than dismiss IBB’s remarks, we should treat them as a sober checkpoint. Let security agencies operate under law and strong oversight. Let civic authorities strengthen intelligence, justice delivery, and community trust. And let those who step into the arena of “negotiation” be ready to defend their actions before the nation.

IBB has drawn a difficult but necessary line. For the sake of stability, justice, and national dignity, Nigeria should stand firmly on the right side of it.

• Chukwudi Abiandu writes from Asaba, Delta State.