A group known as Zamfara Circle has expressed worry over the spate of killings, kidnappings and plunders in Zamfara state, saying they have reached levels not seen before in the decade-long banditry that has bedeviled the state.
The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to consider declaring a state-of-emergency in the state.
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In an open letter to the President, which was signed by leaders of the group, Ibrahim Bello Marafa, Kabiru Abubakar and Bello Lawal, the group said the audacity with which bandits attack villages, town centers and even the state capital is unprecedented.
The group warned that there are indications that mass abduction, which it noted have been common across the state, are imminent in Gusau, the state capital.
“Mr President, after the recent attack on the College of Agriculture located in Bakura town, bandits have posted a notice of attack at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Gusau, and going by antecedents, Zamfara Circle (ZC) has every reason to consider these threats to be serious.
“As a body with representatives across the 14 local governments of the state, Zamfara Circle receives daily reports of attacks, and it is sad to mention that there is no respite in deadly criminal activities in the state. Unfortunately, it is only mass abduction and/or multiple killings that make it to the news,” the group said.
The group expressed worry over alleged growing insensitivity of the governor, Alhaji Bello Matawalle.
It said, “Since the inception of Matawalle’s administration in May 2019, governance in the state was pursued pari passu with the politics of remote 2023 elections, although the latter was given much priority.
“The recent defection by the governor to join the Nigeria’s ruling party (APC) has taken his nonchalance to the condition of the state to a dangerous level with anything governance becoming a secondary challenge to contend with as far as he, the governor, is concerned.
“With its error-ridden, badly executed amnesty programme for bandits now called off and concluded to be a failure by no less than the governor himself, there seems to be no Plan B for addressing the growing banditry in the state.
“It is clear that the focus now is on strategizing and aligning in the new party to ensure successful outing in 2023; people’s safety, lives and properties are no more issues on the governor’s table. The bandits, who are taking advantage of the governor’s nonchalance, raid and attack significant parts of the state daily.
“In all the 14 LGAs of the state, there is no hamlet, village, town or city that is beyond the reach of the bandits including Gusau, the capital of the state. The bandits are now bold enough to lay siege on towns and to make demands that have to be met before they call off the siege,” the group lamented.
