The Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has confirmed that the current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has been reported to the National Security Adviser and the President, Bola Tinubu, for his alleged involvement in bandits’ activities in the state and the North East. He noted that he had submitted credible facts to the two offices for investigation.
In a recent denial, the former governor of the state and the current Minister of State for Defence denied having any form of dealing with the bandits that have terrorised the state.
The minister, while speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, challenged the current governor of the state and General Ali Gusau(retd.) to swear by the Holy Quran that they have no involvement in banditry ravaging the state and the entire North-West.
The minster noted that it was baseles to asert that he was the person behind and sponsoring the activities of bandits in the state, he noted that he had gone into negotiation with the bandits in the past as an effort to stop every form attack and killings in the state.
He disclosed that in the past, the governors, including those of Niger, Sokoto, and Katsina states, had also had to engage in similar talks with bandits. The minister, while speaking, further noted that he was not in any way among the sponsors of the bandit’s activities in the state. He went on to challenge the current governor of the state, Lawal, and General Gusau to swear by the Qu’ran that they were not sponsoring bandits.
In a separate interview with journalists on Tuesday, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sulaiman Idris, alleged that the state governor was not speaking the truth and explained that the state government has several pieces of evidence against the former governor, which will be released to the media soon.
In response to the minister’s request, the chief press secretary explained that the governor had in the past sworn the Qu’ran and prayed that anyone behind banditry should be punished. He noted that the governor had, on different occasions, denied any form of involvement with the activities of bandits in the state.
He noted that the former governor was telling lies regarding his non-involvement in the activities of bandits in the state. He stated that the governor must explain his relationship with the bandits in the state. He noted that the governor has in the past given
“He (Matawalle) is lying. We mentioned names. He should come out and clear his name. He needs to explain his relationship with Hilux and money and foodstuffs to the bandits to share. According to him, there are facts in the state’s domain, and the facts have been presented to the National Security Adviser of the president.
Sulaiman also noted that the governor in his recent meeting with the president presented all the facts before him while he had also presentedd the details to the NSA. He noted that the governor has been calling for a media trial in the past so such will be carried out in a short time if that’s what he wants.
Efforts to speak with the office f the the National Security Adviser’s spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, were unsuccessful as calls and massage were not responded to.
