Onaiyekan, who rejected the idea of negotiating with bandits, asked those in government to “stop pretending” that they are in charge, saying non-state actors are making attempts to take over the country. “The fact remains that we are not where we should be. We should not be living in a country where we are always with our hearts in our mouth when we are moving from one place to another. We should not be living in a country where the children cannot study in schools and where bandits can come and cart away students and their teachers into the bush and sit there and boast for dialogue.