Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state has fingered some Federal Government agencies of secretly negotiating a peace pact with bandits terrorising communities of the state for years.
He said despite being the Chief Security Officer of the state, he was not involved in the preliminary stages of the negotiation process, adding that any peace deal stroke out with the bandits is contrary to his strategy of using military might against the terror groups that held sway in the state.
Reports indicate that a team of Federal Government agencies visited the state ostensibly to accomplish a peace deal with the terrorists without the knowledge or consent of the Zamfara State Government.
The governor said this in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, and made available to reporters on Monday.
“Governor Dauda Lawal has requested the federal government to clarify this action of some of its agencies, which contradicts the determination of the state government to use force against the bandits,” he said.
He further called on the Federal Government to investigate this incident, was a sabotage to the state government’s efforts to fight the forest bandits.
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“The attempt to reconcile the robbers and the former state government in the past did not work. We should learn from the mistakes of the past and adopt new ways to restore peace in Zamfara.
“The fight against forest robbery is one of the major resolutions of the Zamfara state government. We will not accept anything that will hinder that.”
“We need the Federal Government to take immediate action by stopping all talks with the bandits in Zamfara because this is a sabotage to the measures being taken,” the statement read in parts.
WikkiTimes recalls that gunmen abducted scores of female students of Federal University Gusau on Friday. Meanwhile, a combined security team rescued 13 out of the abducted students.
