My friend Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State joined that chorus by insisting months ago that the bandits were a category unto themselves. According to this version of international law, the Nigerian military cannot shoot at the bandits because they fly no flags or banners identifying them as insurgents or secessionists even if they are decimating government troops and taking territory, making it impossible to govern large swathes of Nigerian territory. Someone in government once gave me the foolish line that the bandits are having a field day because this law abiding president does not want to get into trouble with the international human rights community. Sheikh Gumi, who more than anyone else is the most knowledgeable insider on bandit affairs, has advocated a generous cash payout to the bandits for their ‘patriotic’ services and sacrifices. Lai Mohammed said that the bandits cannot be called terrorists because they fly no flags and subscribe to no definable ideology. Sundry establishment spokesmen and politicians have insisted that the bandits are merely hungry citizens engaged in petty crimes of kidnapping, hostage taking and extortion in search of survival. Between Lai Mohammed and his chattering backup cast in Aso Rock, Abuja has trouble as to how better to define bandits as against terrorists. Lai Mohammed has been waging just trying to distinguish between terrorists and bandits.

He finally settled into a world of his own lies and illusions, preferring to see everything else as a ‘hoax’.Īt home, political mischief has found a hiding place in a pretension to linguistic incompetence. He tinkered with ‘alternative truth’ instead and hit a brick wall. He could not distinguish between truth, facts, fiction and faction. Former US president Donald Trump, the most advertised quintessential linguistic idiot, was in the habit of getting lost in a forest of simple distinctions. Politicians tend to get into trouble when they tinker with language to conceal mischief.

7 days to die bandits