Ex-LG boss accuses Zamfara government of supplying vehicles to bandits

We only bought vans for security operatives, says govt

Deposed chairman of Maradun Council, Zamfara State, Ahmad Abubakar, has alleged that the Governor Bello Matawalle administration is supplying bandits in the state with vehicles.

The former council boss told journalists yesterday that the recent attack on Janbako community of Maradun was facilitated by three new Hilux vans the bandits got from the government.

He revealed that on the fateful day, the bandits, who besieged the community in their hundreds, met stiff resistance from the villagers, forcing them to retreat and abandoned one of the vehicles containing three rifles and assorted ammunition.

Abubakar also accused the army and the police of dismal performance; only arriving at crime scenes when the criminals had gone.
BUT the government has dismissed the allegation, saying the government only purchased cars for the military and other security operatives.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Zailani Bappa, stated that such allegations require balancing from the accused before publication.

He stated: “Either due to carelessness, quackery or sheer mischief, the medium went ahead to publish this mischievous story, which was obviously sourced from the enemies of peace in the state without getting the side of government.

“Governor Bello Matawalle used from the meagre resources of the state government to purchase 200 Hilux vans in support of security operatives in the state.”

These vehicles, he said, were duly distributed to all security agencies in the state under the supervision of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), and the beneficiaries included the military, the police, Customs, Immigration, road safety and civil defence.

“With all the programmes of the government towards peace in the state, there was never a time it gave vehicles or money to the so-called repentant bandits, as there was no agreement to such,” he stressed.

The governor’s aide described the report as wicked allegation and a figment of the writers’ imagination or an intended machination to discredit the administration and undermine the peace effort in the state.