By Seyi Babalola
The Governor of Zamfara, Dauda Lawal has criticized federally controlled security agencies for having an “uninspiring attitude” in combating banditry.
He made this known during an appearance on Channels TV on Tuesday.
The governor also decried what he referred to as the police and military’s lax approach to tackling the banditry threat that plagues the northwest state.
According to him, all of these occurrences warranted the establishment of the state security force, Community Protection Guards, in January.
“We, as governors, don’t have control over the military, we don’t have control over the police as well as the civil defence. In most cases, we get frustrated.
“When you need these people, they are nowhere to be found and the best thing to do is to set up that kind of security outfit.”
He asserted that the state’s security challenges have many political implications.
“Sometimes, when you’re really helpless. When you need them (security agents), they are not there. Even when they are there, they are given certain instructions on what to do and what not to do,” he said.
The governor said that with the appropriate political will, the roving bandits who were thriving in the state’s kidnapping-for-ransom economy could be strangled in two weeks.
“In two weeks, we can take care of the situation but the political will is not there,” he said.
He added that the bandits are well-known, as are the locations where they live.
The governor stated that he had met with all of the service chiefs and pleaded for help to defend the state, but that political will had been lacking in the fight against bandits.