Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has called on individual, nongovernmental organisations to assist the over 700,000 persons dislodged from their homes by bandits.
“I hold the belief that lots of you sympathize with the people of Zamfara considering the bad stories bordering on cruel acts perpetrated by some unpatriotic, inhumane Nigerians against their brothers and sisters. Killing, maiming, kidnapping and demand for ransom, rape, cattle rustling and other cruel acts then, remain the order of the day in Zamfara State,” he said.
Speaking through his Commissioner of Information, Ibrahim Magaji Dosara and the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe at a press conference, yesterday, in Kaduna, the governor noted that payment of ransom to secure release of innocent victims, amounting to billions of naira was a cog in the wheel of uplifting the state and its people higher.
He said his administration has recruited 4,200 Community Protection Guards (CPG), comprising ex-servicemen, volunteers and others to support security operatives to confront bandits in their enclaves with a view to curtailing the menace.
“The unwholesome acts of bandits consequently created yet another problem of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who left their homes looking for a safe haven in major towns and villages. Women, children from almost all nooks and crannies of the state were compelled to migrate, sometime to a strange location and strange people leaving all their belongings behind.
“Obviously, these people need the help and assistance of every one. In this regard, Zamfara state government has created the State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development which is saddled with the responsibilities to take good care of all IDPs as well as people affected as a result of banditry, natural or any other disaster. The ministry has been up and doing to assist victims of both man made and natural disasters in the state.