A Youth Group in the All Progressives Congress, APC in Zamfara State, under the umbrella of “Zamfara APC Youth Integrity Network” ZAYIN has dismissed the recent call for the immediate sack of the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawale over the increasing insecurity in the state, describing it as mischievous and irrelevant
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the President of the Group, Idris Ibrahim, in a reaction to the Tuesday protest against the Minister by another group, under the umbrella of APC Akida Forum (AAF)
The Group specifically alleged that Tuesday’s protest by AAF against Matawale at the Headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja, which was the second of such in one month, was one of the many antics of the Zamfara State Government to discredit the laudable effort of the Minister in the fight against insurgency activities.
The Group added that it was only those who didn’t know the evil antecedents of protests in Kaduna State that would take it seriously.
It further clarified that the so-called APC Akida Forum that organized the protest has no root in Zamfara state but rather in Kaduna State, where Ramalan Tijani resides. “Ramalan Tijani is the person linked to a memo some time ago that detailed how the Zamfara State Governor was paying bandits and some media organisations to blackmail Matawalle”.
According to it, ” The AAF was used in 2023 to stop APC members from voting for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the current Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani; but both plots failed.
“Governor Lawal has been using the group to forment troubles within the ranks of the APC in Zamfara and neighbouring states. What baffles us is how the Governor thinks the DSS, of all agencies, would not do background checks on such a questionable group and would just jump at whatever it was that they came to sell to the public in Abuja.
“Anyone who was around the venue of convergence today in Abuja would testify that the buses used to ferry the hired protesters to the DSS headquarters are Zamfara State Government official vehicles in the Liaison office at Abuja and normally used to convey Zamfara State pilgrims.
“We at the Zamfara APC Youth Integrity Network (ZAYIN) are calling on the DSS, the Police and other security agencies to quickly investigate this group called APC Akida Forum – know their leaders, their office, their bank account, if any and their communications with the PDP government and Zamfara Governor, then Nigerians would know the real enemies of the country.
“Tuesday’s unfortunate outing in Abuja was a futile effort by mischievous elements and enemies of the Federal Government and Zamfara people. It was one of the ploys to distract our leader, the Honourable Minister of State for Defence and discredit his good efforts at fighting banditry and terrorism. Their plans have failed. We shall come out to tell Nigerians more about what is happening in Zamfara state.
“This was a man who belaboured to campaign against Matawale, using banditry as sole selling point to the electorate. He promised heaven and earth to end insecurity in the state if given the chance. With the second year down the line, the monsters he created to win the election are now receiving good dosages of the Federal Government’s offensive, and he is trying to distract the Minister so that the insurgency will continue.
“A lot of persons have cried out in the recent past, showing evidence of how the Governor was patronizing notorious bandit leaders and some accomplice media influencers, but nothing has been done by the security agencies.
“We in APC will not allow anything to undermine the good work of Mr. President and his team in Zamfara State. Anyone who stands against the fight against terrorism and banditry in Zamfara is an enemy of the State, be it Governor or anybody.
“The year 2027 is around the corner, and we shall leave no stone unturned to make sure we support our leader, His Excellency Bello Matawale, to return President Tinubu to power, insha Allah”, the statement concluded.
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