Come to our aid, we are under siege — Zamfara Gov. appeals to Tinubu
The Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal has appealed for urgent intervention in the state of insecurity in the state.
The Governor while briefing State House correspondents after meeting behind closed-doors with the President lamented that the state is under the siege of banditry.
The Governor said that the state is becoming something else as a result of the frequent attacks by bandits in the last few days and called for more presence of the military.
He said that he came to the seat of power to brief President Tinubu on the security situation in the state, stressing that if nothing is done to arrest the situation, the northern part of the country will be in trouble.
Lawal said that the State has become an epicenter of banditry and had recently recorded several cases of banditry attacks in a few local governments, despite all efforts the state government is exploring to end the criminal activities of the bandits in the State.
The Governor said that he requested more military personnel as well as the equipment that will enable the officers to function effectively enough to tackle the current security situation in the State.
According to him, “There have been several attacks in some of the local government communities. I feel as a responsible governor, I should make this known to Mr. President, who is pleased with the discussion we have and we are looking for more military personnel as well as the equipment for them to be able to function effectively and take care of the security situation.”
“Zamfara has become the centre of banditry as we speak today, and if nothing is done in Zamfara state, I don’t think we will be able to solve the situation in the entire northern Nigeria.”
He acknowledged that the abducted Kuriga school children and few other victims of banditry were recovered in Zamfara State thereby spurring the state to be more proactive to change the narratives.
He said, “Most of the guys or the girls kidnapped in Kaduna state, ended up in Zamfara state that is not good for us, and therefore we are doing everything to change the narratives and that is one of the reasons I came to see the president today.”
“That is why I am here today. I have informed Mr. President and I have his assurance that something drastic will be done to take care of the situation as soon as possible.”
He noted that the state governors do not have control over the Nigerian military and the police, hence it remains the responsibility of the Federal government to issue directives.
He said, “As you are fully aware, we as governors, we don’t have control over the military as well as the police. It is the responsibility of the federal government. Therefore, at any point, we need to inform Mr President so that we can get his blessing either to direct them or to do something else that will help them take care of that situation.”
The Governor explained that the Community Protection Guard recently launched by the Zamfara State government is intended to collaboratively work with the military and the police adding that they have a better understanding of the terrain
“Like you rightly pointed out last month we launched what we call the Community Protection Guard and these are people that are well trained to take care of the security situation, together with the security operatives.
“They go out on their own on operation, they go together, either with the military or the police. And let me say this, these people are expected to understand the terrain better than even the military and the police,” he said.
