The Chairman of the Zamfara State Council of Chiefs, and Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, has said the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, should have been fired by President Muhammadu Buhari for making this allegation.
Lamenting the grave damage the allegations did to the emirs, Ahmad 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.
He said, “It is very unfortunate for the defence minister to accuse us of aiding banditry. If it were in another country, the minister would have been fired because it is a very serious allegation. He said it was not only the traditional rulers in Zamfara that were aiding the bandits but even those in other parts of the North. But we kept quiet because he is our own. Go to his local government area and see what is happening. So, as a defence minister, he should have relocated there.”
He also berated a news media which reported that the Zamfara emir made a U-turn on their allegations that the Nigerian Air Force mistakenly killed innocent people during its operations against bandits.
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Ahmad stated, “They (journalists) said I made a “U-turn.” There wasn’t any time I made any U-turn and I was surprised that this came from a reputable media organisation. When the military officers came here on a visit, they mentioned it frankly that I was sincere with them and they were all in a sober mood. There was nothing wrong with our statement. All we said was that mistakes could happen.
“It happened everywhere in the world. It happened in America, England and other countries. There were some mistakes during military operations in some of our villages. So it is not a denial. Anybody can come and see what we are saying. It is something that can be seen. You can see the damage, and we have people who lost their relations. They are there for questioning. We asked the soldiers to come and we would take them to places where this happened.
“Even you as a journalist, if you want to go, I will direct you to Tangram and you will see the damage and you can interview the relatives of those killed. The same thing happened in Dungurum area of Zurmi Local Government. It happened in Gusau and Tsafe local government areas too.”
Commending the Federal Government for deploying troops to the state to combat banditry, Ahmad stated, “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 my domain, but in the whole state.”