The Zamfara State government has raised serious concern over the comments made by Governor Dauda Lawal during a media briefing where he stated that he could trace the movement of bandits in Zamfara forest via electronic means.
Mal. Yusuf Idris Gusau, the APC Publicity Secretary, in a statement asked questions as to why the Governor refused to either fight them since he could have their traces or leak intelligence to the security agencies to curtail them.
The statement added that “the governor unequivocally told the media that he knows all the bandits’ camps operating in Zamfara forests and knows their every movement.
“As a party, we don’t know why he is harbouring them in the state and continues to allow them kill and abduct innocent citizens of the state or perhaps because he wants to use them directly or otherwise against his political rivals especially from the APC”.
The statement wondered how the Governor claimed that he can ends banditry within two weeks?.
The party asked the Governor whether if he has revisited his 2023 campaign videos where he promised Zamfara people that he is going to end insecurity within the first two months of his tenure as an elected Governor.
They also asked the Governor whether it was his thinking that all the Governors he de-campaigned in 2023 have control over the security agencies as complained now.
“Apart from being delusional in having the presidential powers with which to eliminate the carnage, the governor forgot that he has set up as well as armed the state’s community protection guard on who only he has powers and only he can direct them to the bandits hideouts which he knows so that they can go and smoke them out”.
“ The Governor rather play politics by always saying the issue of security is in the hands of the federal government also forgetting that he was accepted by the people to emerge as governor in 2023, because his campaign slogan and promises centered almost completely on the fact that he’ll eliminate armed bandits within his first two months in office”.
“Similarly, while boasting that he bought and distributed 150 vehicles to security agencies, Mr Dauda failed to also say that not all the vehicles were given and that they were given not as operational vehicles but as mobility to the benefiting agencies and without any further support such as fueling and maintenance allowance” the statement alleged.
“Recall that while celebrating his hundred days in office as governor, Bello Matawalle distributed 200 fully equipped operational vehicles to all securiy agencies in the state and backed it up with allowances to ease their logistics”.
“The sum of these excuses given by governor Dauda is that he has woefully failed his people and because of pride, he has refused to accept it as he is being blinded by bitter hatred against the APC and its chieftains”.
“While going round the state then, all our state roads were motorable and all the 14 local government headquarters were safe and secured before he was handed over the state, but what is their security status now” APC alleges.
“How much does he give security agencies now despite the huge amount of money he receives monthly from the federal government that he busies himself apportioning blames on the nation’s security institutions”.
“Since he assumed office, how many times has he held security meetings with all stakeholders”.
“But because he underrates people of the state, he has the audacity to say with his mobile phone he can show where the bandits are and he did nothing allowing his people to be massacred on daily basis which is inhuman unless he is a blood thirsty politician”.
“Something of worry or irresponsibility of the governor is, he would look at the people of the state and tell them that there was a time the bandits invaded Shinkafi local government and he alerted the security and they refused to act, the question here to Mr governor is why since he reported the incident, he never told the citizens until now when he failed to deliver on his campaign promises”.
“The governor’s statement is a clear acceptance of his government’s failure to protect the lives and properties of the citizens against bandits attacks”.
“Let him concentrate on delivering his campaign promises of ending banditry in two months and stop apportioning blames on anybody now is time for action not media propaganda” the statement added.
