Adebayo Shittu, a former Minister of Communications in the Muhammadu Buhari administration has described banditry as a rebellion against the neglect of the poor people in the Northern Nigeria.

Shittu stated this in an interview on Arise Television on Thursday.

He said, “What is happening in the Northwest and Northeast in particular is a rebellion against the neglect of the poor.

“Now that we have the issue of banditry on our hands, we have over the years been spending billions of naira in kinetic approach and it’s because people left out of education and civilization that Westernization brings about are rebelling.”

Shittu said the level of education was the reason why there is little or no records of banditry in the Southwest.

The former Minister said bandits are people rebelling due to lack of education.

Shittu said, “Why there is no banditry in the southwest is because we chose to educate the children.

“When you fail to educate people, over the years they will grow up to find out that the social inequality like some people enjoying light, some driving cars, and they are left out. This makes them start rebellion against the society.”

Shittu’s comment comes after his earlier advice to President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to give bandits a promising future through negotiation.

According to him, most of the bandits are able-bodied men who the Federal Government should retain.

The former Minister said a non-kinetic approach in dealing with banditry would bring about a lot of results.