Banditry: Matawalle suspends District Head

Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has suspended the District Head of Badarawa in Shinkafi Emirate Council, Alhaji Surajo Namakkah.

The district head was suspended indefinitely by the governor for conferring traditional title of Durumbu on a military officer who was arrested for allegedly selling ammunition to bandits in the state.

A statement issued on Friday in Gusau by Mr Yusuf Idris, Director-General Media to the governor, said the state government would not tolerate anything capable of destroying the hard earned peace of the state.

The governor pledged to ensure that anybody found wanting in anyway will be dealt with accordingly.

Matawalle warned that henceforth, traditional rulers must seek approval before conferring traditional titles, to avoid unnecessary embarrassment to government and the traditional institution.

According to the governor, the military officer was recently arrested in possession of 20 rounds of 62mm live ammunition.

The suspect was said to be at the point of handing over the ammunition to one Kabiru Bashiru of Maniya village, Shinkafi Emirate, and had allegedly collected an advance payment of N100,000 from bandits.

The governor commended security agencies for arresting one Dr Kamarawa who was in possession of four sets of military camouflage and army identification card.

He said that Kamarawa specialised in the supply of army uniforms and medicaments to bandits in Zamfara.

Matawalle expressed sadness over the involvement of some irresponsible security personnel in banditry, saying it would sabotage ongoing operations and make it impossible to end banditry in the country.

“The nation will not defeat the criminals with such bad eggs within the security achitecture,” he added.

The governor assured that all those arrested in connection with banditry in the state will face the full wrath of the law.

He appreciated the support of heads of security agencies in the state in the fight against banditry and appealed to the people to cooperate with them by providing genuine information on criminals.