December 28, (THEWILL) — A Zamfara-based civil society organisation, Zamfara State Development Group (ZSDG), has distributed food items and toiletries to families displaced by recent bandit attacks at selected Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Gusau, the state capital.
The exercise also covered IDP camps in Tsafe and Talata Mafara local government areas of Zamfara State.
Speaking at one of the distribution centres, the group’s Coordinator, Aboubakar Maipillow Dangulbi, expressed concern over the state government’s handling of insecurity, urging Governor Dauda Lawal to take more proactive measures to address the escalating attacks by armed bandits.
Dangulbi said residents were increasingly worried by the governor’s frequent foreign travels at a time when bandit attacks continued to claim lives across several communities in the state.
He cited the governor’s reported trip to Kigali, Rwanda, for an end-of-year engagement, noting that insecurity had worsened in more than 34 villages, particularly in rural areas.
According to him, despite claims by the state government of spending about ₦4 billion monthly to tackle insecurity, there was little evidence of improvement, as bandits continued to attack communities, kill innocent people and displace residents.
The coordinator further alleged that security operatives were battling armed groups with inadequate logistical support from the state government, describing the intervention so far as insufficient.
“From available reports and data, the state government has not provided adequate support to security efforts in Zamfara. Our gallant troops are left to struggle while our people continue to suffer”, Dangulbi said.
He also referenced the recent killing of traders along the Magami–Dansadau road in Maru Local Government Area, which reportedly claimed dozens of lives, and alleged that intelligence reports had warned of the attacks before they occurred.
Dangulbi noted the government of failing to act decisively on the warnings and ignoring repeated appeals from community leaders and traditional rulers to prioritise the security crisis.
The group called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order immediate “surgical security operations” in Zamfara State and urged Governor Lawal to focus more attention on governance and security issues.
It maintained that many residents of Zamfara State were dissatisfied with the governor’s frequent foreign trips and alleged heavy spending on overseas engagements, while insecurity continued to worsen at home.
Tunde Omolehin is an award-winning Journalist with prose in investigative and storytelling that is connecting the dots between the under-reported communities and policymakers to ensure good governance and accountability.
