A socio-political group which has been identified as the Arewa Development Forum for Peace and Justice, has on Sunday declared its solidarity with Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle over his recent call on Nigerians to legally procure firearms to defend themselves against incessant attacks by terrorists and bandits in Zanfara State.
Alhaji Zubairu A Mustafa who is the esteemed Chairman of the Arewa group had faulted what he described as “the negative reactions” by some Nigerians over the suggestion of Zamfara State governor, bemoans “discouraging comment” by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and other elites who were not sincere with realities of kidnapping, killings and attacks of the communities in the northwest region and other parts of the country by suspected bandits.
Africa Daily News, New York recalls that terrorists invaded a mining site in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, killing several people including soldiers, police and local vigilantes and abducting four Chinese expatriates. This was coming a few days after reports of alleged attacks and kidnap of many people by bandits in some villages in Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states in the country went unabated.
The group had also noted that the multifaceted crime against the Nigerian state and Nigerians has continued to thrive without any serious strategies in place to end the challenge by the security operatives, saying that they are awash with news from some higher-ranking officers in the security echelons and elites that they are not in support of public bearing arms for protection.
The group further explained that Southwestern states have brought down the alleged criminal animal rearers’ attacks on their communities by about 75 percent as a result of their vigilante outfit group known as AMOTEKUN in collaboration with community patrol volunteers is open to all, saying that they bear arms and move around with an ale of confidence and fight against insecurity in their areas.
