…As Zamfara Govt Suspends Two Monarchs Over Alleged Complicit Role In Banditry Attacks
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, has said some traditional rulers are aiding bandits in Katsina the state President Muhammadu Buhari hails from.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, Shehu said these traditional rulers help gunmen escape when security agencies are planning attacks.
Though Mallam Garba was invited to clear the air on alleged shooting that happened in the State House last Thursday, the conversation later dwelled on other significant national issues and the disposition of his boss to them.
Reacting to the spate of killings by gunmen in Katsina recently, Mallam Garba dropped a bombshell.
Shehu said there are people who are benefiting from the attacks.
He said,” It is not that we are making direct accusations on anyone but it is also true that even in the president’s native state of Katsina, some traditional rulers have been found complicit in collaboration with the bandits to harm their own people,”
He said the complicity in banditry by traditional rulers is not peculiar to Katsina alone as the unpleasant situation is at play in the neighbouring Zamfara too.
“In neighbouring Zamfara, emirs and district heads, quite a number of them have been swept out of office. The thing is there are beneficiaries of whatever rotten system you have.
“At some point, the Nigerian Air Force had to put a number of aircraft in Katsina, they are still there. In the early part of that operation attacking Zamfara which then was the epicentre.
“They realised that once aircraft took off from Katsina airport, before it got to Zamfara for operation, telephone calls would have been made and targets would have disappeared. In the end we were forced to be flying from distant places like Kaduna and Kano in order to undertake operations in Zamfara.” he added
Shehu said the president does not have the solutions to all the problems confronting the country.
“All of us as citizens have a duty to the nation to provide information to our armed forces,” he said.
Meanwhile, just a few hours after he made the proclamation, it was gathered that an Emir and a district head were suspended in Zamfara, one of the hotbeds of banditry in the country.
Those affected are the Emir of Maru, Alhaji Abubakar CIKA Ibrahim and the District Head of Kanoma town, Alhaji Ahmed. The two were officially suspended by Zamfara State government for their alleged involvement in armed banditry activities.
In a statement issued by the Director-General Media and Publicity to the state Governor, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, the State government, under the leadership of Alhaji Bello Mutawalle has approved the suspension of the two monarchs, following series of petitions against them by their subjects.
In the statement, the affected traditional rulers have been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of their domains and proceed on leave pending an investigation into their alleged involvement in armed banditry activities.
Recall that Maru LG, where the two suspended traditional rulers come from, was the LG where banditry started when some people were killed in Langido village in 2011.
