From Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja
A political interest group, Patriots for Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) has called on the Federal Government to take urgent steps to address what it described as threats of renewed insecurity in Zamfara state.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, PAPSD said the call has become necessary following repeated ungraded utterances of some political leaders in the state.
The statement, signed by the chairman of PAPSD, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, accused loyalists of a former governor of the state of beating the “war drums”.
The statement said, “We write to call attention to a disaster waiting to occur in Zamafara state which has hitherto been the hot bed of armed banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling until the inauguration of the present administration of Governor Mohammed Bello Matawalle.
“It is on record that at the inception of the present administration, Governor Matawalle, he declared a cease fire and an amnesty to all armed bandits and cattle rustlers in Zamfara, a development that brought relative peace to the otherwise restive state.
“However, intelligence reports in the last few weeks indicated plots by some factional members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state to breach the existing peace the good people of Zamfara are enjoying presently.”
According to Shinkafi, members of the said political camp were allegedly caught on video
threatening the peace and inciting the youths to violence.
Zamfara had been plagued by security issues ranging from armed banditry, kidnapping for ransom, killings, armed robbery, rape, cattle rustling among others over the years.
The PAPSD chairman said flickers of the said security threat emerged during the recent APC House of Assembly by-election primaries at Bakura, during which many people were injured and property worth millions of Naira destroyed.
He stressed that some of the repentant bandits who had been granted amnesty were being instigated by the said politicians to denounce the amnesty and return to their violent ways.
Shinkafi further stated that Zamfara state cannot afford another reign of terror by armed bandits and other criminal elements, stressing that the people were still groaning with scars of the terror past.
While calling on President Buhari to put the security agencies on the alert with a view to arresting the situation, the group also called on Governor Matawalle to remain proactive and ensure the safety of lives and property in the state.
“We call on Mr President to, in view of the foregoing, use his good offices as the Commander In-Chief of the Armed Forces to call for the immediate arrest/investigation and possible prosecution of all those who may have acted in ways capable of breaching the peace,” Shinkafi said.
