Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, has said he does not see banditry ending soon in his state due to the activities of ‘traitors’.

This is even as the governor vowed to fish out the collaborators because “we know the people that are pushing them to do so.”

Backstory

Zamfara State has witnessed renewed attacks in recent weeks most notably with the recent killing of over 200 persons in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas of the state.

The killings drew condemnation from both President Muhammadu Buhari and the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

Bandits have for over a decade been active in the Northwest region of Nigeria where banditry is the code word for organised crimes like kidnapping, cattle rustling, killing, rape, abduction and even armed robbery.

What started as a communal rivalry between farmers and herders over land use snowballed into a deadly act of terrorism with bandits shooting down an air force jet and kidnapping more than 1,000 in 2021 alone.

According to an American Security Project Report (2021), 200,000 people fled their communities last year, with 77,000 of them leaving the country in search of safer places.

Attacks have continued despite efforts by security agents and vigilante members to check the bandits.

The outlaws have been killing, kidnapping, looting, burning down shops, houses and vehicles, raping women and forcing people to flee their ancestral towns.

Aside from the killing, kidnapping and displacement of innocent residents, farmers have also been forced to stay away from their farms with those who braved the odds to work on their farms losing the produce to the bandits.

Matawalle speaks

Speaking to State House reporters Monday afternoon after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Matawalle said some people have been making things difficult for the administration, a reason he said would make the fight against banditry very hard to end soon.

“So, you see, with the kind of people we have in Zamfara State, I don’t think this issue of banditry will end very soon. Because already some people are behind it. 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 on 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,” he said.

Speaking more on bandits’ collaborators, the governor said residents of some communities were being”pushed” to spread lies against him.

He faulted a claim on Sunday by protesters from Nahuche in Bungudu local government area that they paid N200,000,000 to rescue their people.

He said, “It is not true. As I said, they have collaborators, and we are working to fish out those collaborators and the law will take its course. Okay, the whole people of Nahuche to say they have given N200 million, how can you believe that? Your Chairman (of State House correspondents) is from Zamfara State. He is from Chafe local government area. He can testify to that.

“So we know people are just saying that in order blackmail government and the security agencies. But it is not true. We know the people that are pushing them to do so, and we are going to push them out and I assure you that they will be fished out and dealt with accordingly.”

While reiterating that the state and federal governments would continue to work hard to tackle the situation, Mr Matawalle said people of the state would start witnessing a change in the security situation after his discussion with the president.

“You know I do initiate some actions to be taken. And if I initiate some actions, I do inform Mr President, and I have been getting support from him. So, now, I initiated another option, which I informed him that you know, some issues of security is not something that someone should be talking about on the screen of television or pages of newspapers.

“But I assure the people Zamfara State that they will see changes very soon and Mr President is committed to bringing down this issue of insecurity to the barest level and I assure people that we have all it takes to fight these people, and he has motivated me and when we go back on Wednesday, the people will see changes between now and Wednesday because I know what we discussed and I know what is going to happen within this period.

“So, my people would be happy with the action that the federal government is going to take on the issue of insecurity very soon, inshallah.”

PT