The Northern Awareness Network (NAN) and the Northern Stakeholders Consultative Forum (NSCF) have flayed the emboldened action of one of the bandit leaders, Kachallah Bello Turji, who appeared in a video attempting to tarnish the image of the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
Turji was said in the video to have made allegations against the current Matawalle, which the northern groups described as unsubstantiated.
The NAN State chairman, Samaila Kwali, in a statement made available in Kaduna on Monday, queried the rationale behind the government allegedly allowing criminal organisations to operate freely with brazen impunity:
He said, “It is unacceptable for a government charged with the responsibility to protect the lives and properties of its citizens to allow such open displays of such behaviour.”
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NAN, therefore, called on the authorities to immediately cease any actions that could be perceived as playing dubious political games at the expense of the lives of the citizens. Kwali stressed,
“From the interview with Turji, it is clear he was playing a script handed to him by certain desperate politicians in the state, aiming to discredit Matawalle by insinuating his connections with bandits. However, the ill-conceived scheme backfired.”
Turji’s inaccurate assertions during the interview, notably the unfounded claim that bandits still held significant influence more than a year after Matawalle had left office, not only backfired but also revealed the desperation and lack of credibility of some politicians.
The northern groups said throughout Matawalle’s tenure as governor, none of the headquarters of the 14 local government areas were ever infiltrated by bandits.
