Following the escalating security in Zamfara State due to heightened banditry activities, President, African Youth for Conflict Resolution in Nigeria and former adviser to the Minister of State Defence, Bello Matawalle, Dr. Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the state to restore law and order.

In an interview with newsmen in Kaduna, he said all the local governments of the state were now under the control of bandits.

“Zamfara State is gone. All the local governments are now in control of the bandits, not the governor. The governor is nowhere to be found. We learnt he is back in America after returning with northern governors two weeks ago, while these criminal elements are killing his people back home.

“We want to call on President Tinubu to use his prerogative powers to enforce a state of emergency in Zamfara by deploying special soldiers to restore law and order in the state within three to six months. Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo did that when the former Plateau State governor, Joshua Dariye, lost control of the state.

“Mr. President, don’t forget your promise that you would be with us. Remember we gave you the highest votes in the North West. It is now time for you to pay back. And the only way is to enforce a state of emergency,” he said.

Shinkafi commended the police, the military, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), for always being in the bush to protect the people, even as some of them pay the supreme price in the line of duty.”

On the protest against the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, he said: “I was a part and parcel of the Matawalle government back then as a governor. He left N11 billion in the Zamfara State treasury. We left houses, hotels, and shares.

“So, if you say Matawalle stole N700 billion in one year in a state that gets between N3 and N4 billion federal allocation every month, where does such money come from? So, these people calling themselves the All Progressives Congress (APC) members are not.

“I am calling on these people to leave Matawalle alone because we may no longer fold our hands and watch them.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the APC Youth Wing Mobilisation Vanguard, Alhaji Ashiru Tukur, has said those instigating the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle, were doing so because they were ignorant of the law.

He said no amount of such propaganda against Matawalle and Minister for Defence, Abdulaziz Yari, would stand as long as they were delivering on their mandates. He also commended the EFCC for “rubbishing” the protesters and their sponsors by reminding them not to teach it how to do its job.

“Those campaigning against the former Governor of Zamfara State and current Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle are ignorant of the law, due process, and modus operandi of institutions like the EFCC. All the ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu followed due process as tradition demands before they were cleared by the National Assembly, which is why we are concerned about this incessant and unnecessary protest to remind the EFCC of its responsibility.” (Daily Sun)