ABUJA: Minister of State for Defence and former governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has dismissed allegations of sporing or aiding banditry, calling on accusers to show evidence.
The Minister in an interview (Not rapidospace News) on Tuesday, defended his decision to engage in dialogue with bandits, a practice he says was supported by several northern governors and has led to the recovery of abducted persons and ammunition in different parts of Zamfara state
The defence minister said the accusers come out with any proof of that, Because I dialogue, it was not only I, remember all the governor dialogue with the bandits, Governor of Niger state dialogue with bandits, the governor of Sokoto did the same. why are they calling only me.
Zamfara is an extremely complex state filled by nasty individuals that hold devilish beliefs.
In addition, Matawalle made it clear that those making the allegations against him are also involved to the acts in issue.
Let me remind you that I was the only governor who swore on the Holy Quran that I had absolutely nothing to do with banditry, that I was displeased with what was happening, and that God should not grant me a second chance if I was happy, involved, knew someone who was doing it, or collaborated with them.
I challenged all the politicians to follow suit, including General Ali Gusau and Dauda Lawal. They are all unwilling to swearing the oath, and if they do not take the
The minister argued that his fearlessness in tackling criminal elements in Zamfara has made him unpopular among those engaged in criminal activities.The people who oppose me do so because I go after them,” he remarked
When asked if these individuals were politicians. He said in the affirmation, “Yes, they are politicians, and I go after them.
The dialogue brought significant success,” Matawalle asserted, citing the recovery of weapons and the release of several of the abducted individuals, including some foreign nationals.
I have always operated in good faith. However, I feel like I’m the only one targeted, which is maybe because Zamfara is a complex state with vile individuals who have horrible beliefs,” he said.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) believes that at least five times as many people were abducted in Nigeria last year as in Mexico and Colombia combined. Both countries are well-known for their high abduction rates.
Banditry and kidnapping are just some of the challenges facing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, who came to power in May promising to tackle insecurity from criminal gangs, jihadists and other armed groups.
Drawing comparisons to the path of negotiations with bandits taken under President Buhari, in his efforts to secure the release of the Chibok girls, Matawalle said, “This is a global practice; governments across the world enter into agreements to save lives,” he added.
Matawalle also condemned what he described as attempts to blackmail him for his efforts. People are spreading misconceptions out of hate, but I have no regrets because we achieved a lot of success without paying a single kobo in ransom.”.
The former state governor of Zamfara also denied allegations of siphoning state funds claiming these were fabrications of the present governor of the state, Dauda Lawal
”In my four years, I did not ever receive that money. The records are there, the indices are with the Ministry of Finance. It is on record and let me tell you I don’t understand I pity Dauda(Zamfara Gov)I thought for now he should concentrate on giving good governance to the people of Zamfara state. I thought, for now, he should concentrate on the issue of insecurity”
”I thought, for now, he should realise that governance is a continuous process because if he is in that seat today, tomorrow he will not”
”But how can someone come and be telling lies, a whole governor to come and deceive the public ”Bello Matawalle, former governor, has been charged by Governor Lawal with embezzling more than ₦70 billion from the state.
How can he say unaccounted N240bn, before he said 70bn? It is not a surprise to me if you know who Dauda is. This is someone who doesn’t know what he is talking about,” Matawalle remarked in response to a question with respect to the lies the governor had said.
