Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has been called upon to steer clear of politicising the ongoing effort to curb the nefarious activities of terrorists and bandits in the northern part of the country.

President of Zamfara APC Youth Integrity Network (ZAYIN), Alhaji Idris Ibrahim, alleged that Tuesday’s protest against the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawale, at the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja, which was the second of such developments in one month, was one of the many alleged antics of Governor Lawal to discredit his laudable efforts to maintain peace in the North.

ZAYIN, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, called on the DSS, police, and other security agencies to probe the antecedents of the APC Akida Forum (AAF), linked to a memo that allegedly detailed how Governor Lawal was paying bandits and some media organisations to blackmail Matawalle.

ZAYIN recalled how Governor Lawal fought tooth and nail to campaign against Matawalle, using banditry as the sole selling point to the electorate in the 2023 election, with promises to end insecurity in the state if given the chance.

The group noted that with the second year down the line, the monsters allegedly created by the Governor to win the election are now receiving strong doses of the Federal Government’s offensive, and he is trying to distract the Minister so that the insurgency will continue.

The group alleged: “The APC Akida Forum is a group owned and operated by one Tijani Ramalan, who is an ally of Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal. The AAF was used in 2023 to stop APC members from voting for President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the current Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani; but both plots failed.

“Anyone who was around the venue of the convergence today in Abuja would testify that the buses used to ferry the hired protesters to the DSS headquarters are Zamfara State Government official vehicles from the Liaison Office in Abuja, normally used to commute Zamfara State pilgrims.

“Tuesday’s unfortunate outing in Abuja was a futile effort by mischievous elements and enemies of the Federal Government and the Zamfara people. It was one of the ploys to distract our leader, the Honourable Minister of State for Defence, and discredit his good efforts at fighting banditry and terrorism. Their plans have failed. We shall come out to tell Nigerians more about what is happening in Zamfara State.

“We in APC will not allow anything to undermine the good work of Mr. President and his team in Zamfara State. Anyone who stands against the fight against terrorism and banditry in Zamfara is an enemy of the state, be it the Governor or anyone else.”