Matawalle denies dolling out vehicles to bandits

The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has responded to the allegation that he supplied vehicles to bandits in the state.

A former Chairman of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abubakar Maradun, had made the allegation against the Governor, saying he supplied Hilux vehicles to bandits which they used to attack innocent residents.

He said the bandits used two of the vehicles in an attack on Janbako community which led to the death of ten people.

Maradun said, “They went to that village in two of the Hilux vehicles given to them by the Zamfara State Government. One of the vehicles broke down and was abandoned by the bandits.

“These bandits have been using the vehicles to kidnap, kill and rape innocent people and the press has been silent,” he added.

Reacting to the allegation, the Special Adviser to Governor Bello Matawalle on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Zailani Baffa, described it as wicked.

He, however, admitted that the Governor did donate vehicles, adding that they were distributed to all the security agencies in the state.

He said, “These vehicles were duly distributed to all security agencies in the state under the supervision of the Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police.

“The beneficiaries included the military, the police, the customs and excise, the immigration services, the NDLEA, the NSCDC, the FRSC, among others.”

His words were corroborated by the Governor while reacting to the allegation via his official Twitter handle.

“The said vehicles, 200 of them were donated to security agencies in the state to boost their morale in tackling insurgency,” Matawalle tweeted.

He described the allegation as “a display of quackery and sheer mischief targeted at disabusing the minds of law-abiding and patriotic citizens of the state.”