Buhari Ought to Have Sack You, Zamfara Emirs’ Chair Slams Defence Minister

Emir lambastes defence minister for accusing traditional chief of aiding banditry.

Calls for the deployment of additional military personnel.

The Emir of Anka, Attahiru Ahmad, has reacted to the allegation by the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, accusing traditional rulers of aiding banditry.

The traditional ruler, who is also the Chairman of the Zamfara State Council of Chiefs in an exclusive interview with Punch said the minister ought to have been fired by President Muhammadu Buhari for making this allegation.

While describing the minister’s allegation as serious, the Emir said Dan-Ali, who hails from Birnin Magaji Local Government Area of Zamfara State, ought to have relocated to his local government as part of efforts to tackle banditry.

Describing the situation as unfortunate for the minister to make such serious allegation against the traditional chiefs in the northern part of the country, he said they kept quiet because he is from the north.

“Go to his local government area and see what is happening. So, as a defence minister, he should have relocated there,” he added.

The Emir who commended the Federal Government for deploying troops to the state to combat banditry, however, noted that the troops deployed were not adequate.

“I have already explained that I have an able officer deployed in my domain. The only hindrance is that the troops deployed here are very few in number and have no required equipment to fight the bandits. Nevertheless, the leader of the team acts promptly and very fast whenever there is a problem.”

According to him, the soldiers are seriously inadequate, not only in his domain, but in the whole state.

He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to act “as quickly as possible by coming to the rescue of the people in Zamfara  “because if nothing is urgently done, there is going to be human tragedy in Zamfara.”

“These bandits will one day come to the major towns to attack people if they are not effectively controlled. With the number of the bandits and their sophisticated weapons, I think they can attack any local government headquarters. So, we are appealing for the deployment of more soldiers.”

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