By Citizenship Daily
The All Progressives Congress (APC), Zamfara State chapter, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on Zamfara State over alleged sabotage of banditory fight, ostensibly by the state government.
Imposition of emergency rule, the APC argued, will consolidate the ongoing military operations against the banditry and other related high profile criminality in Zamfara and Northwest at large.
A statement by the Zamfara State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Malam Yusuf Idris, said the current onslaught on bandits/terrorists in Zamfara State by the military in the north western states under the coordination/supervision of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Mohammed Matawalle on the directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is yielding positive outcome.
According to the statement, the bandits’ leaders and their gangs who hitherto thought they were powerful as they laid siege on the region have so far been subdued by the current efforts which needs to be sustained at all cost so that the region will be free from all forms of criminalities.
“But as a party, we observe with dismay how the Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal is trying to sabotage the ongoing onslaught through his media campaigns to distract the effort of the federal government under the coordination of the Minister of State for Defence to succeed because the ongoing military operations is scuttling his 2027 campaigns plan,” the APC alleged.
“The Governor has never in any way supported military operations in the state in terms of logistics, rather he has been too confrontational that at one point, the military had to warn him to steer clear from their activities and efforts to flush out bandits from the state in particular and north western states in general.
“He is of the belief that he can now use the operation to his own advantage and also further fight the Minister of State for Defence.
“He is now bent on distracting the operation through media campaigns and propaganda… which is why we are calling on the federal government to declare a State of Emergency on Zamfara.
“This need is highly desirable so that the operation can go unhindered and the security operatives can go into the state without the Governor and Government of Zamfara politicizing the manhunt as the state Governor, Dauda Lawal has already begun by portraying himself as if he’s the sole sponsor of the operation for which he has no hand.
“On many occasions, Matawalle had offered himself both as Minister of Defence and as a citizen of Zamfara to partner with the Governor in fighting the bandits even before the situation escalated.
“The president, concerned by the general outcry, directed the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle to lead the Defence Headquarters with the Chief of Defence Staff and coordinate a complete elimination of the bandits operating in the region for the return of peace throughout the area and the country as a whole.”
The statement said following directives, the troops have effectively decimated the criminals, their leaders and camps and received accolades, but not from the state Governor nor his team.
