The minister of state for defence, Bello Matawalle, has denied allegations levelled against him by Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state that he is behind banditry in the state......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Matawalle accused of sponsoring banditry in Zamfara
Reacting to the governor’s allegations, Bello Matawalle’s office said Governor Lawal has repeatedly towed the same line of action of accusing the Minister of sponsoring banditry which the Minister has consistently denied.
As reported by Vanguard, Matawalle’s office referred to a statement by his media consultants denying his involvement in banditry or terrorist activities.
This followed a similar allegation in a video by wanted Bandit’s kingpin Bello Turji, who described the claims as baseless and mere attempts to distract and discredit him (Matawalle’s).
The statement, signed by Dayemi Saka, Lead Partner at Lambert and Curtis, read in parts:
“Our attention has been drawn to a video shared on the X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook page in which baseless, malicious, unfounded, mischievous and deliberate concocted lies were told against the Honourable Minister of State for Defense, H.E Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.
“We are not unmindful of the sustained attacks on the person, integrity, and patriotic sense of duty of our client.
“It is noteworthy that the efforts of the honourable minister of state, while as Governor of Zamfara State between 2019 and 2023, saw banditry and all other sundry of criminality tackled head-on.
“His demonstration of the strength of Character by insisting he was not going to negotiate with Bandits after the closure of the amnesty window for them to lay down their arms, and strong insistence of Bello Turji doing such is enough motivation for the hatchet man job is he doing.”
Group commends Matawalle, slams Lawal
Earlier, Legit reported that the Arewa Youth for Peace and Security commended Matawalle for “his strides” in the fight against banditry.
The group alleged that Lawal exaggerated security concerns during Matawalle’s tenure to gain attention and support but had failed to fulfil his promises to address the situation effectively now that he is in power.