We will never negotiate with bandits — Zamfara govt

The Zamfara State Government on Tuesday said they would never embark on peace negotiations or engage armed bandits in any dialogue in the state.

Addressing newsmen in Gusau the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Nakwada, said the current administration has no intention of engaging any leader of bandits or their agent in discussion, whatsoever, in the name of a peace deal that has never worked before.

Nakwada expressed the state government’s preparedness to, rather, pursue the bandits to wherever they are and crush them including their sponsors.

He further said the state government would work diligently in collaboration with security agencies to make sure that the fight against insecurity is taken to the doorstep of the bandits.

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He said the past government under Mohammed Bello Matawalle wasted several billions of naira on white elephant projects that had no direct bearing on improving the lives of the masses.

“Matawalle’s administration had spent over N10bn on purchasing utility vehicles and there is no proper record to back up the claim. Some of the vehicles were shared among cronies and our administration would do everything humanly possible to recover the said vehicles.

“Our administration wants to use this medium to inform the good people of the state that all land allocation to individuals, groups in the state or outside stand revoked because it was not done in the overriding public interest,” he said.

He called on the people of the state to cooperate with the government on its policies and programmes, saying they were aimed at reducing or alleviating the suffering of the masses.