The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, disclosed that some highly placed traditional rulers were fingered to be aiding the banditry to perpetrate their criminal activities. Mr, Dan-Ali said the federal government has vowed to deplete the bandits as it has deployed some troops to Zamfara state and the entire North-West to crush them.
The Minister made this declaration on Tuesday through Col. Tukur Gusau, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) to the Minister. He revealed the Military has been directed to deal squarely with anybody found to be aiding the criminals in whatever guise, “no matter how highly placed the person or persons may be.”
He revealed that some traditional rulers were found to be compromising Military operations. He warned that armed forces will be deployed to go after such people or any individual no matter how highly placed they are when they are found to be aiding the criminals.
Dan-Ali said, “The ministry is very concerned about the security challenges which are overwhelming in the North-West region and particularly, in states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina and Kaduna states.
To curb the menace, he said “Due to the prevailing security situation in the states, the Army is already conducting Exercise Harbin Kunama IV in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states.
“The idea of the exercise is to ultimately flush out the activities of criminal elements in the North-West.
The Minister added, “The Nigerian Air Force has also intensified air strikes in pursuit of the bandits in Zamfara. So far, the combined efforts have yielded a fruitful result, leading to the killing of many bandits, the rescue of many persons including a renowned Islamic scholar, Sheik Ahmad Suleiman.
On the other hand, “The government is also addressing the remote and immediate causes that gave room to the high spate of banditry in the states.”
Continuing, the release stated, “Recently, the government swiftly acted on the advice of the Ministry of Defence to suspend all mining activities in Zamfara State and environs following intelligence report that suggested close collaboration between the activities of the bandits and illegal miners.
Lastly, he added, “The Ministry of Defence, on this note, wishes to warn any group of persons who choose to conspire or sympathise with the bandits to propagate crime against the law-abiding citizens to henceforth to have a rethink or change their ways or face the full wrath of the law.”
