Jennifer Akamanu
Apparently overwhelmed by the spate of killings in their domain, indigenes of Zamfara State have implored the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the state with a view to initiating series of actions that would address the ongoing crisis in the area.
A group of concerned citizens of the state who made the call in a statement they issued yesterday lamented that in the last few years, Zamfara has been subjected to massacres and the killing of thousands of innocent citizens, mainly rural folks.
Leading the call that a state of emergency be declared in Zamfara is a governorship candidate in the state, Senator Saidu Dansadau.
Dansadau said President Buhari should embark on the move to rescue the state from bloodletting.
According to him, the crisis in Zamfara today is “beyond the knowledge of every individual, and unless something positively is done, no one knows where finally the state will find itself in”
He alleged that the top echelon of the state government are accomplice and urge the federal government to urgently declare emergency rule.
The stance of the people from the state is a reiteration of the position taken by in its front page comment published in the July 31 edition of the paper that the federal government should quickly intervene and stop the bandits in Zamfara “that kill for sport, apparently because they hardly encounter any resistance or face any consequence”, from the state government.
In the statement the group noted that the brutality with which these attacks are carried out are unprecedented in recent times in any part of Nigeria.
The statement was jointly signed by Prof Jibrin Ibrahim of Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja; Dr Abubakar Siddique Mohammed and Prof Massoud Omar of Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Zaria, as well as Dr Salihu Zubairu Mustapha and Malam Mohammed Abubakar Nasiru of the department of history, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The Zamfara people called for the dispatch of Special Forces to the forests and affected villages to root out the terrorists and kidnappers.
According to them, government should interact frequently with community leaders and other relevant stakeholders in the search for lasting solution to the crisis.
They also called for a renewed commitment of the leadership of the security agencies to accelerate the war against terrorism, insurgency, mass kidnapping and mass murder.
The concerned citizens pointed out that the outbreak of riots in Tsafe local government of the state on Saturday December 22, 2018, which led to the deaths of over 100 people in the villages of Asaula, Kwadawa, Dogon Kawo, Mandaba, Yanza, Kulutu,Sakkya and Fegin Dakai, all in Eastern Tsafe, has again brought to the fore the issue of insecurity in Zamfara State.
“On Monday, December 24, thousands of scared citizens in the state came out en masse to protest, demanding that the Nigerian State protects them from killers and bandits who have killed over one hundred people in the past two weeks, burnt their houses and destroyed their farmlands and rustled their cattle”, they noted
The group maintained that the reckless pronouncements and ineptitude of the government of Governor Abdul Aziz Yari have further worsened the security situation in the state.
They said the destruction of the campaign posters of President Muhammadu Buhari is a manifestation of the extent to which people are aggrieved against the efforts so far put in place to contain the problem.
The Zamafara natives pointed out that the carnage is not only limited to Tasfe, but is widespread all over towns and villages of Zamfara, while innocent citizens, made up of defenseless men, women and children are slaughtered routinely with no help in sight.
“Women and young girls are raped in the presence of their parents and husbands. Some are kidnapped, carried into the bush, subjected to incessant rape, impregnated and sent back to their villages”, they added.
Establishing the basis for their call for a state of emergency in the state, the group said, “So far, the security measures put in place in Zamfara have failed. The massive demonstration that took place in Tsafe yesterday against the failure of the security agencies, which degenerated into the riots, indicates that people’s patience has run out.
“All these happenings indicate that there is a leadership vacuum in Zamfara state and that whatever security measures put in place has failed woefully. This therefore calls for drastic measures to arrest the situation and prevent the descent into total anarchy, with dire consequences to Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna states and the neighbouring states of Niger Republic.
“The Zamfara crisis should become a turning point indicating a renewed determination of the Nigerian State and its security agencies move from condemning such wanton killings to checkmating the activities of the attackers”.
Noting that it is time for President Buhari to take immediate and drastic action, the concerned citizens recommend immediate declaration of a State of Emergency in the state to enable the federal government initiate a series of actions that would address the crisis”, as well as “the dispatch of special forces to the forests and affected villages to rout out the terrorists and kidnappers”.
They also urged the federal government “to interact frequently with community leaders and other relevant stakeholders in the search for lasting solution to the crisis”, just as they called for “renewed commitment of the leadership of the security agencies as part of a renewed effort to accelerate the war against terrorism, insurgency, mass kidnapping and mass murder”.
