ACF Debunks Viral Claims, Says It Never Backed Amnesty for Terrorists or Bandits

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has firmly rejected viral social media reports alleging that it supported granting amnesty or financial incentives to terrorists and bandits operating in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, the northern sociopolitical organisation described the circulating claims as false, misleading, and based on a “truncated and mischievously abstracted” video clip currently making rounds online.

Muhammad-Baba explained that the clip was lifted from a recent television interview with the Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, but was deliberately taken out of context to push a preconceived narrative by what he called “clandestine and shadowy individuals or groups.”

He stressed that Dalhatu’s comments in the interview were largely personal views, occasionally touching on wider perspectives, and should not be mistaken for the official position of the ACF.

“First, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu spoke mostly in his personal capacity, only sporadically alluding to official perspectives,” the statement clarified.

According to Muhammad-Baba, the complete interview—unlike the misleading viral clip showed Dalhatu expressly condemning terrorist activities and advocating for the “total annihilation of terrorists and bandits within the shortest period possible.”

He added that Dalhatu’s reference to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Niger Delta amnesty programme was merely an illustration of how governments often combine kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in tackling complex security issues. It was not, he said, an endorsement of using the same model for terrorists in the North.

“He did not categorically propose the unadulterated application of the same pathway,” Muhammad-Baba emphasised, noting that the chairman only acknowledged Nigerians’ right to express differing views on how to address insecurity.

The ACF also dismissed suggestions that Dalhatu made ethnic or religious remarks, describing such interpretations as “vile reactions” driven by mischief.

Given the seriousness of the allegations, the forum said it was necessary to set the record straight.

“ACF hereby makes it categorically and unambiguously clear that at no time has the organisation called for any amnesty in favour of any terrorists or bandits,” the statement said.

Reiterating its long-standing stance on national security, the ACF pledged continued cooperation with the federal government and security agencies.

“As always, ACF pledges full and unalloyed support to the Government and the security agencies in their various endeavours to stamp out the scourge of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria,” it affirmed.