The Minister of State, Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, has reacted to allegations made by his successor, the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, that he is involved in banditry issues in the state.
Bello Matawalle’s office denied the allegations while stating that Governor Lawal has repeatedly towed the same line of action of accusing the Minister of sponsoring banditry, which the Minister has consistently denied.
Matawalle’s office referred newsmen to a statement previously made by his media consultants, denying his involvement in banditry or terrorist activities, following a similar allegation in a video by wanted Bandit’s kingpin, Bello Turji.
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.
“What we find disheartening and despicable is the brazen disregard for public safety and national security.
“While the video speaks to its discredibility, it is pertinent to address the outlandish allegations made by Bello Turji, a wanted kingpin of banditry.
“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.”
The statement added, “All arms seized, recovered, and received from bandits were submitted at Government House Gusau, and there is a record for it.
“The Government House does not have armoury, and it is also on record that the cache of arms was handed over to relevant security agencies of government.”