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The protest by some groups against the minister of state for defence, Bello Matawale, in Abuja on Tuesday has been described as a “futile effort by mischievous elements and enemies of the federal government” to distract the ongoing fight against terrorism and banditry in the north.
A statement Tuesday night by the president of Zamfara APC Youth Integrity Network (ZAYIN), Alhaji Idris Ibrahim, specifically alleged that Tuesday’s protest against Matawale at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja, which was the second of such movements in one month, was one of the antics of Governor Dauda Lawal to discredit the minister’s laudable effort in nipping insurgencies to the bud.
It was reported Tuesday afternoon that a group under the umbrella of the APC Akida Forum (AAF) protested at the DSS headquarters against the minister, Matawale.
The AAF’s chairperson, Musa Mahmud, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, called on the DSS to investigate alleged Matawale’s linkage with bandits and terrorist groups.
But in a swift reaction Tuesday night, Alhaji Ibrahim said only those who didn’t know AAF and its evil antecedents in Kaduna State would take it seriously.
ZAYIN further clarified that the so-called APC Akida Forum has no root in Zamfara State but 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.”
“APC Akida Forum is a group owned and operated by one Tijani Ramalan, who is an ally of the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal.
“The AAF was used in 2023 to stop APC members from voting for President Asiwaju 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 foment 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 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 commute 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 a 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.
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