GOVERNOR of Zamfara State, Alh Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar has requested the Federal Government to refund the sum of N13billion security expenses his government incurred in the course of fighting cattle rustling and armed banditry in the state from 2011 to date.
The governor made the request while conducting the Minister of Defence, Brdg General Muhammed Mansur Dan Ali (rtd), on inspection of weapons collected from bandits on Sunday.
This was contained in a statement issued to Tribune Online on Sunday and signed by the governor’s spokesman Ibrahim Dosara.
He said since the assumption of office in 2011, his administration has been injecting huge amount of money in fighting the menace of banditry and cattle rustling.
According to him, since the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulated the issue of security in the hands of the Federal Government, the state resources utilised in fighting insecurity in the state, needed to be refunded back to the state for execution of more developmental projects.
Yari remarked that the setting up of a peace negotiation committee in the state had forced, many armed bandits to surrender their weapons to the state government.
“Peace is now being enjoyed in the state, following successful peace negotiations with the bandits,” said Gov Yari.
He also recommended the setting up of a regional forum for checking the proliferation of arms within the West African sub-region to ensure armed banditry free West Africa.
Responding, the Minister of Defence, Mansur DanAli expressed delight over the efforts of the govt of Zamfara State over the success in the peace process.
He commended the governor for the efforts in the arms collection and promised to do more in supporting the state government efforts in the maintenance of law and order for peaceful Zamfara State.
The Minister, who said security is everybody’s business, said the Federal Government has set up an air force base in the state as part of its contributions to the fight against bandits in the state.