Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security in the northern part of the country.
Matawalle, who addressed police personnel posted to the state by the AIG in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states, yesterday, said the whole area was under attack by bandits.
The governor also expressed disgust at the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy, saying no place was safe in the entire northern region.
Matawalle said, “It is unfortunate if the bandits can go up to NDA and kidnap the officers; I think the government has to look into it and declare a state of emergency on security.
“Some people have been calling on the government to declare a state of emergency on education and other sectors, but I think the state of emergency has to be declared first on security so that the security personnel can be mobilised to be more purposeful in some parts of the country and deal with these criminals.
“Many of our rural areas are inaccessible as a result of banditry and the bandits have taken over some parts of the state.
“Just yesterday, we concluded with the repentant bandits to secure the release of the people that were kidnapped in Rini village, about 83 of them, and people were there to receive them.”
He accused some politicians of fuelling the insecurity for political gains, stressing that it was not good to play politics with the security issues.
