“The problem in Zamfara is not about banditry alone. You have some socio-economic interests also because of the illegal gold mining activities”.
President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Mr. Okechukwu Isiguzoro, urge federal Government to persecute any traditional rulers found guilty on the raising case of banditry in Zamfara and other North West states of Nigeria’s.
Isiguzoro made this known when he was speaking with Punch Newspaper.
He said arrest of traditional rulers found guilty will be the major step to halt the raising of violence in the affected States
According to Him: “The recurring death of scores of innocent Nigerians is worrisome. The marching order of President Muhammadu Buhari to security chiefs is timely and there is no need to entertain any fear in ensuring that they quell the rebellion and insecurity in Zamfara.
“The acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu, has identified the nefarious activities of some traditional rulers, who are deeply involved in gold mining, as one of the causes of the rising violence and banditry.
“We are calling for the immediate arrest of these traditional rulers to save Nigerians from bloodshed; otherwise, the North-West could be another North-East.
“We believe President Buhari’s marching order should begin with the immediate arrest and prosecution of these traditional rulers that are promoting banditry across the North.”
The group also send a strong message to the herdsmen killing and destroying farmland in the South-East to vacate immediately, because if Nothing is done about it, Biafran agitators from the region would soon retaliate.
“The problem in Zamfara is not about banditry alone. You have some socio-economic interests also because of the illegal gold mining activities.
“On the issue of bandits coming from Niger Republic, we believe that there are some cross-border bandits and this makes it a multi-faceted task before us. That is why we believe the efforts should be all encompassing. Of course, we have that effort under the auspices of the Multi-National Joint Task Force in the North-East, and in the North-West region, it will be done also.
“There is this flow of arms coming in from the Maghreb. The porosity of our borders is a problem. Perhaps after the clearance of the bandits’ hideouts in Zamfara, those agencies in charge of the borders must be empowered to prevent such cross-border criminals.”
He finalized his interview by saying that all the security agencies had ongoing operations in the North-West, which were all supported by Operation Sharan Daji ( sweeping the bush) being carried out by the Armed Forces.
Be the first to comment