Zamfara has been terribly-hit with a wave of kidnappings and killings by bandits with the state becoming the face of insecurity in the country in the past few months.
In a statement signed by Col. Tukur Gusau, spokesperson to the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, he said the traditional rulers have been frustrating the efforts of the Armed Forces to stop the wave of killings.
“However, in spite of the concerted efforts of the Armed Forces and other security some unpatriotic persons including highly placed traditional rulers in the areas were identified as helping the bandits with intelligence to perpetuate their nefarious actions or to compromise military operations,“ he said.
The minister said every stakeholder has an important role to perform to ensure that peace returns to the state. He said the recent efforts of the Armed Forces has led to the killing of many bandits and rescue of abducted victims.
“The purpose of the exercise is to effectively flush out the activities of criminal elements in the North West,” he said, referring to Exercise Harbin Kunama IV which commenced recently.
He noted that the government is addressing all possible reasons for the spate of killings, including suspending all mining activities in Zamfara and environs following intelligence report that suggest close collaboration between the activities of the bandits and illegal miners.
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