The Presidential flagbearer of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso has said he would dialogue with the members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and armed groups “to restore peace in Nigeria” if elected as president. In an interview with Daily Trust, the former governor of Kano State said he was open to dialogue with armed militant groups and that he would partner with the international community to ensure there’s regional peace.
I’ll dialogue with armed groups — Kwankwaso
Kwankwaso said he would raise the current number of police and military personnel from 230, 000 and 250, 000 respectively to one million each as part of measures to end insecurity in the country.
He said he would also deploy technology in the fight against banditry, insurgency and secessionist militancy just as he would also embrace dialogue with the armed groups. “It’s not just to have peace in Nigeria, if you have peace in Nigeria and her neighbours do not have peace, then we will have issues. That is why we are looking beyond the local peace,” Kwankwaso said. Meanwhile, IPOB campaigns for the secession of a part of southeastern Nigeria where the majority belongs to the Igbo ethnic group.
Nigerian authorities have however labeled the group which was founded by now-detained Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist organisation.
