Zamfara Lawmaker, Former LG Chairman Arrested Over Link With Bandits

Zamfara State Police Commissioner Muhammad Dalijan has announced the arrest of high-profile personalities, including a member of the state House of Assembly and a former local government chairman, in connection with banditry in the state.

Dalijan disclosed this while hosting Thomas Parker, the officer in charge of the Counterterrorism Unit under the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), at the command headquarters in Gusau.

The police commissioner did not mention the names of the high-profile individuals but said the command arrested them in connection with a crime a month ago.

Dalijan, however, noted that crime rates have reduced in Zamfara due to the ongoing efforts of security agencies in collaboration with Community Protection Guards (CPG), and have flushed out the suspected terrorists who migrated from Maiduguri to Zamfara in the Northwest.

He also appealed to the UN agency to help establish a forensic laboratory in Zamfara to address the challenge of conducting forensic analysis in Lagos.

He urged the UN to replicate in Zamfara what they did in Maiduguri and sought the global body’s assistance for training on investigation and the establishment of forensic laboratories to accelerate the investigation and prosecution of suspected criminals in Zamfara State.

Earlier, Parker said they were in the state on the appeal that Governor Dauda Lawal had made to the United Nations to assist the state in tackling its insecurity.

Parker further said he was at the state Police Command to gather more information about the state’s existing insecurity threats for the UN’s assessment of the security situation and to learn how to deal with them.