Matawalle to Zamfara clerics: Emulate Gumi, interact with bandits

Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle of Zamfara state has thrown a challenge to the state’s religious leaders, also known as Ulamas to emulate the Kaduna based cleric, Sheik Ahmad Mahmud Gumi to go to the bandits’ enclaves to preach to the armed men to repent.

Sheik Gumi had in the first week of January 2021 visited Fulani communities along the Kaduna-Abuja highway, where rampant kidnappings and other criminal activities are prevalent. He later visited Gamagira in Soba LGA before his latest visit to Kidandan in Giwa LGA on Tuesday.

His visit to some of the dangerous enclaves purportedly led to the promise made by some leaders of the bandits to repent from their criminal activities.

Speaking on this development, Governor Bello Matawalle at a stakeholders’ emergency meeting on peace building in the state with the Ulamas, Emirs and Security Chiefs said Sheik Gumi called and told him that he would want to extend the same mission to Zamfara with him being an indigene of the state and for peace to reign in the state.

“We have our Ulamas and I believe they can do the same thing and I’m urging them to map out a strategy on how this can be done. We are thirsty for peace in this state”

“There was a time I called the Gusau based cleric, Sheik Umar Kanoma at night to interact with some repentant bandits and he did and they agreed to lay down their arms and they are living different lives now,” he added.

In the same vein, the state commissioner of police Mr Abutu Yaro said the Ulamas can tremendously help in this direction even as he endorsed the peace dialogue initiated by Governor Bello Matawalle.

He said the Ulamas can start whether from one local government to another or from one emirate to another promising that the state police command would be ever ready to support them for the success of the noble cause.

‘I didn’t fault Zamfara peace process’

Meanwhile, the Emir of Anka and Chairman of the state council of chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad Anka has denied going against the peace deal initiated by Governor Bello Matawalle .

In an emotion laden voice, responding to the allegations leveled against him by Governor Bello Matawalle that he faulted the state’s peace deal with armed bandits, the Emir said he was misquoted by the journalists adding that he never faulted the peace mission.

“I’m a member of the state’s peace committee and I can’t say such a thing. Therefore we should go back to the very thing I said.”

Governor Matawalle had accused the Emirs of faulting the peace deal initiated by his administration saying some of the Emirs were sabotaging his effort to restore peace in the state.

“The Emir of Anka and the chairman of the state council of chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Muhammad Ahmad Anka had faulted our peace dialogue with the armed men saying that any peace dialogue with armed criminals won’t work forgetting that he the Emir was a party to the decision to engage the armed bandits into the peace deal”

“The Emirs are here attending this meeting they should make an open declaration whether they on the same page with this administration on the issue of our peace dialogue or not and if they agreed that the peace process should continue then any emir that goes to attack the decision after wards would be made to face the full wrath of the law”

“If we had known that force can quell banditry then we wouldn’t have initiated the peace dialogue. Some Ulamas and Emirs are criticising this peace pact. Some people are happy with the attacks for political reason thinking that the attacks will pitch people against our administration,” he added.

Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle then said he initiated the peace dialogue with clean mind and for the sake of humanity and he had a very wide consultation before he took that decision and all parties agreed to it.

The governor also accused journalists of conniving with opposition to portray the state in a bad light adding that he had a case of a reporter with a foreign media that was paid to report an attack that didn’t happen adding that he took the case to security agencies.