Insecurity: Zamfara Has Become Safe Haven for Terrorists, Says Northern Group

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Following the spate of killings in Zamfara state in recent weeks, a group, the Northern Emancipation Network has decried that the state was again becoming its former safe haven for different terrorist groups.

The group in a statement issued yesterday  by its Secretary General, Sulaiman Abbah, called on the Governor of Zamfara state, Dauda Lawal to leave Abuja and return to the state to face governance.

The group blamed the governor for failing to combat the worsening insecurity in the state while spending almost all the time  in  Abuja.

It noted that in spite of the previous government’s efforts to curtail insecurity, the situation has deteriorated.

The group was of the opinion that the governor  does not appear interested in seeking answers to the challenges of security to which the state was exposed, adding that the people continue to live and die under the dictates of killers, kidnappers, rapists and sundry criminal groups that have in recent times, deprived  them of the rights to live in peace and security.

It stated: “Zamfara is once again becoming a safe haven for different terrorists groups, downplaying the description of criminal elements in the region as bandits.”

The group stressed that killers and other criminals appear to have sensed a paralysing vacuum at the highest levels of leadership in the State since the inception of the new government,  saying they have grown in confidence and acquire more competence in subverting the State and peoples security.

It added: “The people of Zamfara have shed enough tears and blood in the last three weeks without appropriate response from those with responsibilities to protect them.

“Villages are being emptied as hundreds of people, due to constant attacks, are relocating to the already congested urban areas of the state and deepening poverty,” he said.

“For the very first time ever, the popular Shinkafi market had been completely overrun by criminal attackers and all activities crippled and deserted.”

It therefore,  urged  the Zamfara governor to end the unnecessary gallivanting in Abuja and to work for the security of the people who elected and entrusted their lives and future in his care.

The group said Zamfara did not vote for the governor to go about chasing shadows by fighting over vehicles and other individuals’ property but to work to improve their condition.