El-Rufai: He Never Said He Paid Bandits; He Said “Bomb Them, Let Them Go To God And Repent” – Diala
The Director General of the El-Rufai Support Group Association, Dr. Uche Diala, has come to the defence of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, against accusations that he confessed to paying bandits, stressing that the former governor had always been against negotiating with terrorists.
Diala made these remarks during an interview on Trust TV on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in response to comments by Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, who claimed that El-Rufai said he paid bandits.
The support group director general dismissed the accusation and insisted that El-Rufai never made such a statement.
According to him, the former governor had repeatedly expressed his stance on how the government should handle terrorists and bandits.
“He never said he paid bandits. If anything, he had maintained at every time “I don’t believe in negotiation with terrorists, bomb them all, destroy them, let them go to God and repent”,” Diala said.
Diala’s remarks came as he continued to criticize Musa over comments about El-Rufai and the security situation in Kaduna State.
Diala argued that the former governor’s position on terrorism had always been against negotiation, insisting that El-Rufai favored decisive military action against terrorists.
According to him, El-Rufai had consistently held that terrorists should not be negotiated with but confronted and defeated.
