ADELEKE ADESANYA
President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a marching order to the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno, to immediately end banditry around gold mines in Zamfara State.
This is even as Governor Bello Matawalle suspended the district and village heads in Maradun Emirate over the killing of some herders.
A statement on Thursday by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said Buhari’s order was a response to the Save Our Soul message received from the Speaker of the State’s House of Assembly, Nasir Magarya.
According to the statement, the President said, “There must be a clear pathway to ending the resurgent banditry that has continued to cost lives and the displacement of thousands of families from their towns and villages.
“Recall that recently, the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Hon. Nasir Magarya, wrote a letter in which he appealed to President Buhari to intervene and stop the incessant killings by bandits in the state.
“In this respect, a meeting is soon to take place that will deliberate on security and the issue of illegal mining, which is fueling the crisis in Zamfara State.
“In addition to NSA, the convener, the meeting will be attended by Major-General Bashir Magashi (rtd), Ogbeni Ra’uf Aregbesola and Architect Olamilekan Adegbite, Ministers of Defence, Interior, and Mines and Steel respectively.
“Also to attend the meeting are the Directors-General of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.
“Beyond the problems of bandits and cattle rustlers, the scale of lawlessness has been aggravated by illegal miners, who are harvesting resources they have no legal rights to exploit.”