An army officer and his girlfriend were recently arrested while they were assisting bandits with military uniforms.
The Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle, Dr Bashir Muhammad Maru, told reporters at a news conference on Friday that the arrest was made possible through community-driven intelligence.
“While the state Government awaits the action the Military will take on this matter and make an official statement, the development has further proved the position of Governor Bello Mohammed that unless the fight against banditry is cleansed of bad eggs and saboteurs, we may not record the desired success in the fight.
“Let me use this medium to salute the courage and patriotism of the individual who came forward with information that led to the arrest of these traitors. Our gratitude knows no bounds,” he said.
He also debunked reports by a section of the media that 40 people were killed in last Wednesday’s attack on the Tungar Baushe community.
“It is therefore unfortunate that some media organizations, without proper investigation and confirmation, went ahead to publish fabricated accounts dished out to them by enemies of peace in the state.
“It is worthy to ask yourselves as media practitioners why those who gave you the false information of 40 people killed by the bandits (which in itself is blatantly false) refused to give you the information of the bandits killed by the sheer efforts of the resilient people of Ruwan Tofa, which in itself is the truth,” he lamented.
However, the spokesman of Operation Hadarin Daji in Zamfara State Captain Ibrahim Yahaya said for now it remains an allegation pending the outcome of the investigation by the army.
He said the state government did not contact them before going to the press.
