Not Just Zamfara, North West Needs More Troops, Matawalle Tells Service Chiefs

Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, has called for the deployment of more troops across the north-west region of the country.

He made the call on Tuesday when he received the service chiefs at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital.

The governor stated that there must be blocking forces to block the routes of bandits from moving from one state to another, stressing that troops deployed to Zamfara should not stay in the city but go to the heated area and take the battle to different bandits’ camps in the state.

“We need more deployment of troops across the whole North West, not just Zamfara, and we equally appreciate all the efforts of Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari toward defeating the lingering issues of banditry.

“Particularly, we appreciate the recent resolution to deploy additional 6,000 troops to complement the effort of those already on the ground,” he told the military leaders.

Governor Matawalle insisted that there was no evidence or proof linking mining activities in the state to banditry.

He said the state government would continue its dialogue process and support military onslaught against recalcitrant bandits.

“There is also the need for more fighting equipment such as gun trucks and tankers to be placed, if possible, in most of the routes of these criminals and I appeal to you that the troops you will be deploying to Zamfara should not remain in the city, they should go to the epicentre of all the forests,” the governor added.

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who led the service chiefs on the visit informed the governor that the military was ready to flush out criminals in Zamfara and other parts of the country.

He explained that they were in the state on a day working visit to assess the security situation and ongoing military operations to end the security challenges.

According to the defence chief, it is time to bring an end to the security challenges bedevilling the state and the country at large.

He gave an assurance that the military would go all-out against criminal elements who do not want peace to prevail in the country.

Irabor said, “We are aware of expectations arising from the unending state of insecurity in Zamfara State; the whole essence of establishing Operation Hadarin Daji is to work in partnership with the other security agencies and ensure that peace returns.

“We are here as soldiers, we are only after bad people, we deal with bad people, we come because we don’t want people to live in fear anymore.”

“But we need you (traditional rulers) to support us, we need you to pass relevant information; you’ve been doing it, but I also pray and urge you to increase the tempo,” he added.