Allegation aircraft drops arms in Zamfara, failure of agencies – Group

A group under the aegis of Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) has said Federal Government’s pronouncement that bandits bring in arms into Zamfara State in exchange for gold through unidentified aircraft has once again shown that the nation’s intelligence is porous and inactive.

It said this has also brought to the fore the inefficiency of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) that is saddled with the responsibility of managing the nation’s airspace.

A statement signed, yesterday in Abuja by the Executive Director, PAPSD, Dr. Sani Abdulahi Shinkafi said for anybody to say that planes come into Zamfara State to drop arms and carry out gold without tacit cooperation of NAMA and office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the person is being economical with the truth.

He said: “It is a known fact that without the approval of NAMA, no aircraft can enter the Nigerian airspace; neither can any aircraft obtain the clearance to land anywhere in the country.

“So, for the Federal Government to accept hook, line and sinker the lie that unidentified aircraft brings in arms into Zamfara State and take out gold from the state is hogwash.”

Shinkafi pointed out that some desperate politicians, in collaboration with powerful political appointees in Abuja, are employing intimidation, mischief and blackmail, all in the bid to remove Governor Mattawalle and make the state ungovernable.

The group alleged that the desperate politicians went to the extent of circulating a fake video clip of an aircraft, which from its investigation, is a Hawker Siddley 125 business jet that landed on a very rough strip in Guatemala on January 27, 2020, and which was used for a very shady world of drug-running, alluding same to be the plane being used to supply arms to armed bandits and carry gold out of Zamfara State.

According to him, the video clip, which has been trending on social media, is being used to blackmail the governor’s efforts to restore the security of lives and properties through his peace initiative accord with armed bandits in the state.