Community Exposes Zamfara Governor For ‘Lying’ About Rescue Of 26 Girls
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, has been accused of lying about the rescue of 26 girls recently kidnaped from Dan-Aji community in Faskari Local Government Area of the state.
Contrary to Governor Matawalle’s claim that his government’s intervention led to the girls’ rescue, the community has revealed that they paid N6.6 million personal money as ransom to the kidnappers.
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The Dan-Aji community head, Alhaji Lawal Dogara, told newsmen: “The governor of Zamfara State should stop claiming credit for the release of our women because we paid for their release.”
According to Dogara, the girls were released after two leaders from the community – Alhaji Abdulkarim Dan Aji and Liman Babangida Dan-Aji – trekked for three days to the kidnappers’ camps in the forests to deliver the ransom.
Matawalle had on Sunday shared a photo of himself with the rescued girls on Twitter, saying they were rescued “as a result of our intervention.”
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The governor had said his administration would continue to deploy its “dual kinetic and non-kinetic approaches for dealing with armed banditry” in the state.
He tweeted, “Today, I interracted with 26 rescued girls after medical professionals have ascertained their physical and mental fitness following days of trauma suffered in kidnappers’ den. The young girls kidnapped from Katsina State were rescued on 6/11/2020 as a result of our intervention.
“I’ll continue to commit to our dual kinetic and non-kinetic approaches for dealing with armed banditry bedeviling the Northwestern region of Nigeria. Inspite of the myriads of socioeconomic challenges we inherited in Zamfara State, we’re managing the meager resources at our disposal to tackle regional insecurity without overwhelming the Federal Government with requests for monetary intervention. Through our non-kinetic strategy, we secured the unconditional freedom of these 26 young and innocent girls after spending 1 week in captivity. The rescued girls are on their way to reunite with their parents after proper handing over to Katsina State Government.”
