A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has said the lingering insecurity in the state can only be brought to an end by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and not Governor Dauda Lawal.
Addressing journalists in his residence in Gusau on Tuesday night, Shinkafi, who reacted to the recent killing of 38 people of Banga community in Kaura-Namoda local government area who were in captivity at the bandits’ hands for five months, said President Tinubu should come to the aid of people of Zamfara who are being killed on a daily basis.
He said some politicians in the state, who have politicised the issue of insecurity, are blaming Governor Dauda Lawal for refusing to end insecurity in Zamfara, not knowing that the governor, as the chief security officer of the state, cannot end banditry without the support of the President, who is the chief security officer in the country.
Shinkafi said, “If President Tinubu wanted to end insecurity in Zamfara now, he would give directives to all security officers at the top to deploy more troops and arms to ensure they fight the banditry to a finish in the state.”
He said “because those politicians who happened to be in the state and are closed to the President cannot confront challenge him on the issue for selfish interest.”
Shinkafi said unless President Tinubu gives the marching orders to the chief security officers to go to Zamfara and ensure the flushing out of bandits on their criminalities, Zamfara people will continue to be killed by the bandits until they are finished.
He wondered why some politicians have politicised the issue of insecurity in the state. Instead of keeping aside all the differences and fighting for the common goals by confronting the President at Villa on the matters concerning insecurity bedevilling the state, they end up focusing on politics in preparation for the 2027 elections.
Shinkafi pointed out on how Governor Dauda Lawal is making all efforts on the part of insecurity who he said have since he came into power as governor, have been going up and down to Abuja and meet up with all the security agencies at their respective headquarters who include, the chief of defence staff, the chief of air staff, the national security adviser (NSA) to the president Malam Nuhu Ribado, and even the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself and forward his complains for assistance to help end banditry activities in the state, but all in vain.
He said, “Because those politicians don’t have the hearts of the people of the state, they deliberately ignore the issue of insecurity bedevilling Zamfara and also see how people are being killed on a daily basis. Instead, they only focused on the political issue, where they even started anointing who and who are to contest in so-so positions come the 2027 general elections, which is a great shame.”
“I was in Gusau from Abuja for a condolence to the family of late Emir of Gusau, Dr Ibrahim Bello, who died recently in Abuja Hospital, but met the unfortunate and disheartening issue of gruesome killings of 38 people of Banga community in Kaura-Namoda local government, who were in captivity at the bandits’ camp for five months.
Shinkafi said that by going deep into what had happened and finding out how those people in captivity were killed, through which they were forced by the bandits to slaughter themselves one by one after collecting the sum of N35 million ransom from the community, he was terribly shocked and described the acts as inhuman to the highest order. He said he cannot return to Abuja until he addresses the press on the ugly situation Zamfara found itself in.
“Infact, the situation of how those kidnapped Banga community found themselves is barbaric, where they spend five months both men and women including 3 pregnant women, where one of them after delivered and at the end died as a result of her new born baby who was killed by the bandits for what they said is disturbing them with crying.
The APC chieftain also queried on why politicians from other neighbouring states of Zamfara, such as Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger, who are having the same problem with Zamfara but are not politicising or blaming their governors on the issue of insecurity, are only doing so in Zamfara and Sokoto states.
Shinkafi, therefore while calling on politicians in the state to stop politicising issue of insecurity, also urged them to come together including all the traditional rulers, the elder statesmen and Ulamas to form a unity and confront President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at Villa on the issue of insecurity so as to salvage the state from it’s present predicament.
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