The Zamfara state police command has deployed 275 well-trained and equipped personnel for operation Puff Adder II to reclaim and stabilize ungoverned spaces earlier dominated by unrepentant bandits.
Speaking during the official launch of the operation in Gusau, the state capital, the state commissioner of police Abutu Yaro, said the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu Abubakar has graciously approved the deployment of the personnel to the state.
He said the deployed operatives would be headed by ACP Musa Abdullahi and they have since arrived and would complement the existing security arrangement targeted at retaking and stabilizing ungoverned spaces in the state.
“In line with the IGP’s policy directives of the operation Puff Adder II, I want to assure the good people of Zamfara state that the operation will be intelligence-led and community-driven and will be executed in sustained collaboration with other sister agencies.
“This is to see that the recalcitrant bandits who refused to embrace the ongoing peace process can be successfully dislodged from their abodes to deny them the opportunity to regroup or freely move about in the state.
“The deployed operatives should be civil with law-abiding citizens but ruthless to criminal elements who may want disrupt the safety and security of the state. The good people of the state should also work hand in hand with police and other sister security agencies to succeed in the task ahead,” he said.
In his address, the state commissioner of Home Affairs and Security, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, said the state has been the epicentre of banditry, kidnapping, and cattle rustling.
He said the state government would provide all logistical support to the operation and warned the recalcitrant bandits to embrace peace or be dealt with.