ZAMFARA STATE GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF GIFTING BANDITS VEHICLES USED FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, GOVERNOR MATTAWALE REACTS
Governor Bello Matawalle has debunked allegations that he gifted bandits brand new vehicles now used for criminal activities.
Responding to the allegations, Governor Matawalle termed the report false and malicious.
The Governor said last year, 200 vehicles were donated to security agencies in the state to 'boost their morale in tackling insurgency' and not to bandits.
The Governor, who entered into a peace agreement with the bandits in 2019 as part of measures to ensure peace in Zamfara state was accused of gifting repentant bandits 11 Hilux and some millions of naira.
Governor Matawalle told newsmen he sees negotiation with bandits as the best option for lasting peace in his state.
"We applied the peace accord as a means of honest solution to the problem of Zamfara State which has yielded tremendous result never expected in the last one year," Matawalle said in June 2020.
In November 2020, the Governor of Zamfara claimed he was able to secure the release of 26 girls abducted in Dan-Aji community in Katsina through mere dialogue with the bandits.
The girls, aged between 8 and 12 were kidnapped in Katsina and taken into the bandit's camp in Zamfara.
The village head in Katsina was quick to refute Governor Matawalle's claim, saying the community paid the bandits 6.6 million ransom to secure the abducted girls’ freedom.
Over 300 schoolboys were abducted from their school in Katsina and taken to the bandit’s camp in Zamfara state. After 6 nights in captivity, the boys were released following negotiations with the bandits.
READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: BANDITS SHUN MILITARY, BEGINS NEGOTIATION WITH PARENTS OF ABDUCTED SCHOOL BOYS
Last year, the All Progressive Congress (APC) accused the Mattawale of sponsoring banditry in Zamfara state, a claim the Governor described as malicious and insulting, adding that banditry in Zamfara has drastically reduced compared to the PDP administration.
Eons intelligence reported that on Tuesday, January 19, bandits killed JF London, the commander of the Joint Task Force in Zamfara
The JTF commander was shot in the head two days after security forces killed thirty bandits terrorizing Bungudu Local Government Area of the State.
The terms of negotiation between the Governor of Zamfara and the bandits in the state are not clear. But if the bandits are not considered outlaws by the state government, ensuring the security of lives and property in Zamfara and neighbouring states would continue to pose as a challenge to the nations security agencies.
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