THE Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, on Tuesday, September 24, challenged Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal and other politicians in the state to swear by the Holy Quran if they know nothing about banditry that has made the state insecure in the past years.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, Matawalle responded to accusations by Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal who had linked him to banditry and called for his resignation as a minister.
He said that he was not the only governor who engaged in dialogue with bandits during his tenure.
Speaking on TVC recently, Lawal had called for Matawalle’s resignation over accusations of sponsoring banditry and money laundering during his time as governor.
He claimed that the Government House in Gusau, the state capital, was allegedly involved in the ransom payment for the children of a permanent secretary who was abducted.
He noted that Matawalle’s resignation would be the most honourable thing to do given the weighty allegations against him.
“If I were he (Matawalle), I would resign and face all the allegations against me.
“For me, honestly, I will step aside and face this allegation until I clear my name before I come back and continue my job. That should have been honourable. How will he have all these allegations against him and he is still the minister of defence?” the governor said.
Responding to his successor’s claim, Matawalle pointed out that he was not the only governor who had dialogued with bandits.
The minister emphasised that he was the only governor who had taken an oath on the Quran to affirm his innocence regarding banditry.
He said: “It was not only me that dialogued with bandits. Remember all the governors dialogue, the then governors of Niger and Sokoto states did the same. Why only me? Because it is Zamfara.
“Zamfara is a very complex state with terrible human beings with devilish ideas. Let me remind you, I was the only governor who swore to the Holy Quran that I have no hand or connection with banditry or I am not happy with what is happening. If I am happy or if I am part of it, or if I know those doing it, or if I am collaborating with them, God should not give me one-second grace.
“I challenge all the politicians, including General Ali Gusau and Dauda Lawal, to do the same. None of them could take the oath, and if they don’t take the oath that means they are part of it.”
The ICIR reports that Mattawalle, who served as the governor of Zamfara State between May 2019 to 2023, left the state as one of the worst hit by terrorist attacks in Nigeria.
Attacks by a group of terrorists known as bandits were rampant under his watch leading to the killing of thousands of people in the state and across the North-West region of the country.
During Matawalle’s tenure, agriculture, which is the major source of income for the residents of the state suffered devastation as these terrorists imposed protection levies before allowing residents to cultivate farmlands or harvest their crops.
Some measures which he introduced to address the challenge such as shutting down telecommunication, restriction of vehicular movements, shutdown of markets and directing police to allow the residents to bear arms failed to end the menace.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M