President Muhammadu Buhari has warned bandits rampaging northern Nigeria to stop kidnapping and killing poor people in the region.

Mr Buhari said for the umpteenth time that he would not tolerate bandits’ violent acts and threatened to crush the criminals with “our massive firepower.”

“The violence against poor villagers who are struggling with poverty and other severe economic challenges is not going to be tolerated by this administration,” said the president.

His media aide, Garba Shehu, quoted him as saying in a statement on Thursday following bandits’ latest onslaught in Zamfara.

Mr Buhari, in his typical response, claimed that “such wanton disregard for life will be brought to an end sooner than later.”

He added, “These criminals should stop pushing their luck too far by believing that the government lacks the capacity to crush them.”

According to the statement, Mr Buhari directed the military, security, and intelligence agencies to take immediate steps to close all existing gaps in their operations exploited by criminals to wreak havoc.

He also hoped that the Special Operation launched by the military in the wee hours of Thursday from the Maru local government area would prove decisive in ridding the state of the “frequent and horrifying” bandit attacks.

He called on the security forces to “redouble their efforts in bringing an end to this mindless violence against innocent people.”

Speaking further, Mr Buhari said, “Let’s not give these criminals any opportunity to succeed by taking the war to their own camps and stop them in their tracks before they even have the time to respond under our massive firepower.”

The president reassured Zamfara residents claiming, “Despite the latest setback in our efforts to protect our citizens, there will be no compromise in our determination to defeat these enemies of humanity.”

(NAN)