The Governor also said the attacks led to the destruction of 3000 hectares of farmlands, rustling of 25,000 cows and over 6000 persons sustained different degrees of injuries.
Also, the Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali said there was a report that the indigenes collaborate with the bandits by giving them information to carry out attacks.
In his remarks at the Special Town Hall Meeting on Federal Government Measures to Curb Killings, Governor Yari said agriculture has suffered serious setback following the incessant destruction of farmlands and rustling of cattle in the state.
He, however, said that the efforts by the Federal Government to curb the crisis was yielding results and need to be sustained to finally put to an end all forms of criminality perpetrated by the bandits.
According to him “agriculture has suffered a huge setback resulting in the destruction of our rural economy, from the inception of this administration in 2011 till date, the state has experienced over 60 major attacks in about 500 towns and villages across 13 local governments of the state, 4000 people were killed, over 6000 people injured, rustling over 25,000 cattle and destruction of about 3000 hectares of farmland, destruction of about 313 ground silos and 600 shops, destruction of about 336 vehicles including tractors and motorcycles.”
The Governor also said the state has taken measures to address the menace of the crisis by engaging stakeholders and the security agencies, and provide necessary assistance to the security agencies and bringing succour to the affected communities.
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“In order to combat this menace, the state government has taken a number of steps of some of them which are sustained consultations and meetings and relevant stakeholders, agencies and groups as well as the security agencies.
“Payment of over N14.8 billion for allowances and operational costs for the security operatives, provision of relieve packages and assistance to the affected persons and destroyed silos and other economic valuable items.
“Disarmament program, reconciliation which led to the recovery of over 3000 assorted arms from the bandits which is headed by the security operatives.
Community engagement approach with a view to share intelligence and provide support to the security operatives.”
Furthermore, Governor Yari said “I want to appeal to the Federal Government, more has been done, but it’s not yet over until when it is over, we are still having some challenges, Air Force, Army and DSS are doing their best and we have started seeing results but we want this tempo to be maintained.
“I want to use this medium to inform the audience that this is criminality, people that formed the group for criminality in Zamfara state are all Muslims, so I don’t expect that a Muslim brother will kill a Muslim brother just for the sake of killing, but rather, I can say with conviction that this is clear criminality.
“Today we have over 1200 different sets of security forces from the Army, Air Force, Civil Defense and the DSS. We have started seeing results, and we are working harder with security agencies, providing intelligence, using the local people to lead them where these bandits are in order to achieve results and put this insecurity to an end.”
In his welcome address, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the Town Hall meeting is expected to address the farmers and herdsmen crisis and also find solution to banditry and cattle rustling.
“Let me say straight away that the killings resulting from Farmers-herders clashes, cattle rustling, trans-border crimes and banditry, among others, have fallen drastically. Unfortunately, this has not received the kind of media coverage that was given to the killings. I appeal to the media to correct this.
“We have invited an expert, Dr Abubakar Sadiq, from the Ahmadu Bello University who will make a presentation after which we will go the question and answers, this I believe will give enough time to hear directly from all stakeholders, not just questions but also contributions and insights into the menace of cattle rustling, herdsmen and farmer conflicts.
“In the last edition of the town hall meeting in May was dedicated to farmers and herdsmen conflict, but today, we are going far beyond that, we are going to examine the remote and the main causes to not just herdsmen and Farmers conflicts, but also the criminality and banditry of cattle rustling especially in Zamfara state.
“The killings that we have witnessed in the country has nothing to do with ethnicity or religion, we are dealing with the fall out of demography, environment, climate change and pure criminality.
“I have no doubt that the good people of Zamfara can testify to the drastic reduction in the activities of cattle rustlers and other bandits in the state since the Federal Government assembled a 1000-strong military force, comprising the army, Air Force, police and civil defence, to launch fierce attacks on the bandits terrorizing the villages and towns of Zamfara State.
In his address, the Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali urged the indigenes to always corporate with the Security agencies by giving them accurate information to combat the bandits.
“The incessant killings by armed bandits and other criminal activities in the Northwestern part of Nigeria has become alarming and worrisome, and federal government have done a lot to address the security challenges in the Northwest and especially in Zamfara state.
“In order to sustain the gains achieved by the Federal Government, there is need for the people to corporate with the security agencies and also avoid collaboration with the bandits, this is being so because recently, we have gotten some reports that some of us are joining hands with these bandits and giving them information.
“So, I plead with us, please give correct information to security agencies so that they can work efficiently,” the Defense Minister said.
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