More trouble for Tinubu's top minister as Nigerian governor links him to terrorists, he reacts

• Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal earlier raised an alarm and alleged that Bello Matawalle, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, is behind banditry in the state
• Governor Lawal, in a now-viral interview, also levelled other heavy allegations against his predecessor and called for his resignation
• Responding to Lawal's accusation, Bello Matawalle on Thursday, denied any link to banditry

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

The minister of state for defence, Bello Matawalle, has denied allegations levelled against him by Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state that he is behind banditry in the state.

Matawalle reacts to banditry allegations slammed against him by Zamfara Governor Lawal. Photo credit: Dauda Lawal, Bello Matawalle
Source: Facebook

Matawalle accused of sponsoring banditry in Zamfara

Reacting to the governor’s allegations, Bello Matawalle’s office said Governor Lawal has repeatedly towed the same line of action of accusing the Minister of sponsoring banditry which the Minister has consistently denied.

As reported by Vanguard, Matawalle’s office referred to a statement by his media consultants denying his involvement in banditry or terrorist activities.

This followed a similar allegation in a video by wanted Bandit’s kingpin Bello Turji, who described the claims as baseless and mere attempts to distract and discredit him (Matawalle’s).

The statement, signed by Dayemi Saka, Lead Partner at Lambert and Curtis, read in parts:

“Our attention has been drawn to a video shared on the X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook page in which baseless, malicious, unfounded, mischievous and deliberate concocted lies were told against the Honourable Minister of State for Defense, H.E Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.“We are not unmindful of the sustained attacks on the person, integrity, and patriotic sense of duty of our client.“It is noteworthy that the efforts of the honourable minister of state, while as Governor of Zamfara State between 2019 and 2023, saw banditry and all other sundry of criminality tackled head-on.“His demonstration of the strength of Character by insisting he was not going to negotiate with Bandits after the closure of the amnesty window for them to lay down their arms, and strong insistence of Bello Turji doing such is enough motivation for the hatchet man job is he doing.”

Read more about Zamfara here:

• Zamfara governor accused of financing banditry, Illegal gold-mining for selfish gains
• Northern group urges Zamfara governor to resign
• Nationwide protest: Report fingers 2 state governors behind end bad governance demonstration

Group commends Matawalle, slams Lawal

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Arewa Youth for Peace and Security commended Matawalle for "his strides" in the fight against banditry.

The group alleges that Lawal exaggerated security concerns during Matawalle's tenure to gain attention and support but has failed to fulfil his promises to address the situation effectively now that he is in power.

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Source: Legit.ng