Abdulrahman DambazauThe Minister of Interior, retired General Abdulrahman Dambazau, has given bandits who have been attacking and killing innocent farmers in Zamfara State a final warning to stop the attacks or face the consequences.
The minister, who went on the assessment visit to the State today, Wednesday, to the areas affected by the sporadic attacks said: “this is a final warning; the bandits must stop these acts forthwith because the Federal Government has devised more stringent ways to deal with them.
“I want to assure them that they cannot withstand the consequences.”
The minister expressed worry that since those affected by the killings are largely the agrarian rural dwellers, the activities of the bandits will have a serious impact on agriculture and food security.
He assured that stakeholders in the security sector in the state would meet to fine tune the new measures that would be used in tackling the threat posed by the bandits.
The minister, who expressed President Muhammadu Buhari’s condolences to the people of the state over the attacks, made it clear that the federal government will continue to go to any length to protect the lives and properties of the citizens.
According to Dambazau, any single innocent life lost has a devastating effect on the nation and is unacceptable.
Responding, the acting Governor of the State and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji, lamented that the security situation in the state is getting out of hand and required the concerted efforts of all stakeholders.
“This crisis started as a farmers /herdsmen conflict but has now escalated to the killing of the innocent, rustling and kidnapping.”
The acting governor, who commended the joint efforts of the security agencies at all the flashpoints, said that the hoodlums had devised fresh tactics to evade confrontation with security personnel.
Source: NAN.
