The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has swiftly reacted to a press statement by the Zamfara State government, which alleges that the Hon. Minister of State for Defence, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, illegally arrested one Saleem Abubakar, a technical assistant in the office of the governor.

The party said it always baffles the Nigerian community that anything that negatively affects the Zamfara State government is immediately and directly linked to the minister, either by the governor or his cronies.

This was contained in a statement issued by the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Yusuf Idris Gusau, and made available to newsmen in Gusau, the state capital.

According to the statement, Saleem was arrested by a Special Forces Unit under the National Security Adviser (NSA). “That alone should have settled the matter, or any interested party can go to the NSA’s office to get further details leading to the arrest.

“The state government, however, in its ignorance, does not know that any arrest coordinated from the office of the NSA borders on serious national security, does not require a warrant and will be subjected to investigations, but the government crookedly and craftily avoided mentioning that the suspect is alleged to have links to terrorism and cyber crime, which are serious offences.

“The state chapter of the APC has always accused the PDP-led government of Zamfara of maintaining a standing partnership with bandits, some of whom have been arrested by security agents. So, for the government to immediately come out in defence and protection of a suspect like Saleem further confirms our charges.

“We wish to formally and strongly commend the security personnel for the arrest and urge them to seriously investigate him to possibly lead to further arrests that they may be trying to avoid.

“As for the Honourable Minister who is currently out of the country on national assignment when the arrest and accusations against him were made, he cannot be distracted by a miniature like the governor’s spokesman and couldn’t have gone so low as to ‘syndicate’ the arrest of a technical assistant.

“The security agents may, however, have discovered high-profile security threats linked to the arrested person, and it’s their duty to investigate.

“The word ‘abduction’ by the writer of the press statement is also careless, implicating, callous and can cause him serious problems, because the security either arrests or invites persons because they have no reason to abduct anyone.

“We commend the NSA office and the Ministry of Defence and other security outfits in the country for the proactive measures they are taking in the country, which in turn will make Nigeria secure and free from any threat from the people of the underworld.”