The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has explained why he believes that banditry will not end soon in the state.
The governor attributed the continued attacks by bandits on innocent residents of various communities in the State to the activities of some individuals.
He made the remarks yesterday afternoon while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
‘I don’t think this issue of banditry will end very soon because already, some people are behind it,’ the governor said.
‘Some people are using it and all they need is at least to show Nigerians that both the Federal and Zamfara state governments are not serious about the issue of insecurity, despite the fact that some of them are involved in the crisis of this insecurity. But we’re doing our best.’
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Governor Matawalle gave an assurance that in spite of the efforts of these individuals, residents would begin to witness significant improvement in the security situation.
According to him, the President is wading in through some strategies that will be manifest in the next 48 hours to provide succor to the people.
The governor equally blamed those he described as political bandits as responsible for fake reports on the number of affected persons in the recent attacks on some communities.
He debunked the claims that up to 200 persons were killed in Bukuyyum and Anka Local Government Areas of Zamfara.
‘I have already cleared the air about the figures because I have seen some reporting that 200 people, 300 people, 500 people were killed,” he said. “I went to the community myself and with the [heads of] security agencies.
‘First, we went to Bungudu and we confirmed from the emir that it was only 36 people that have been killed and two communities were razed by these bandits, and when we went to Anka.
‘We met the emir, and he gave us a list of 22 people that have been killed, making a total number of 58 people killed. But as I’ve been saying, there are some political bandits who have been spreading lies, rumours so that they can achieve some political gain.’
Africa Daily News, New York recalls that the Federal Government had sometime late last year designated bandits as terrorists.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
