…as governor asks bandits to lay down arms
President Muhammadu Buhari has deployed 6,000 troops in Zamfara State to complement the efforts of the current security forces in the state, which has become the hotbed of banditry in the country’s northeast.
Bello Matawalle, governor of the state, revealed this and also banned the movement of motorcycles in large numbers has been banned in the state.
Matawalle who shared on Twitter also warned that any politician that incites violence and endangers the security of the state will be apprehended and dealt with.
The governor declared on his Tweeter handle that “@MBuhari has approved the deployment of 6,000 troops to complement efforts of the current security forces in the state”.
“As a further push to bring to an end the activities of armed bandits, Conveyance of more than two persons on a motorcycle is hereby banned with immediate effect
“Movement of motorcycles in large numbers is banned, spreading fake news by social media users will not be tolerated, anyone found in this act will be dealt with decisively. Traditional rulers and sole administrators of LG council are to always remain in their respective domains.
“Any politician that incites violence and endangers the security of the state will be apprehended and dealt with. Security agents are directed to arrest and arraign violators for prosecution.”
The governor had earlier on Tuesday asked bandits operating in the state to lay their arms in two months, or be ready to be crushed by state power.
Matawalle handed down the ultimatum as he welcomed the visiting Service Chiefs at Government House Gusau, the state capital.
The governor expressed frustration over the recalcitrance of the bandits, saying that while the state had employed peace and dialogue in its dealings with the criminal gangs, “there are still some defiant bandits who refused to embrace peace and withdraw from banditry”.
Zamfara has witnessed a string of mass abductions by different groups of bandits operating in the state, including the recent kidnapping of about 279 schoolgirls from a government secondary school.
Governor Matawalle declared that bandits who accepted the peace offer had shown their love for the good of the state, adding however that those who rejected to lay down their arms would face the full weight of the state.
The federal government had declared Zamfara a no-fly zone following the schoolgirls’ abduction and also banned mining activities in the state.
