The Zamfara State government has appealed to the Federal Government to reconsider its plans of withdrawing military troops from some states hit by banditry.
Addressing newsmen in Gusau, the Commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran explained that the withdrawal of military troops would give another chance to armed bandits and kidnappers to return to their nefarious activities in the state.
“We in Zamfara have already put in place a peaceful atmosphere for the restoration of the lost peace. Therefore if the military troops working in the fight against insecurity should be withdrawn, both the federal and state governments would not have any rest until peace is restored because the bandits may likely come back with their drastic activities”.he said.
The commissioner distanced the Zamfara State government and the people of the state from alleged support for the withdrawal of the useful military troops from the state and other parts of the country as planned by the Federal Government.
“We are appealing to the federal government not to withdraw the troops because the presence of the military has reduced insurgency drastically.
Hon. Dauran noted that the police alone cannot address the security challenges in the state in particular and the country in general.
He appealed to the Federal Government to have a rethink on the withdrawal of the military troops from the areas bedeviled by terror attacks and kidnappings.
The commissioner stated that the security situation in the country needed a well coordinated security network, saying that only the police could not handle the security issues of the entire people of the country.
“Both the federal and state governments would be losing huge amount of money to save the lives and properties of the citizens, a situation that the people would not see as a good idea,” he stressed.
Dauran said that although Zamfara State was heading towards achieving lasting peace and harmony due to the peace accord and reconciliation initiatives between the government and the bandits, there was still need for military presence in the state.
“Even though there is relative peace in the state, we have recorded remarkable success in the fight against banditry in the state, we succeeded due to the assistance of the military troops” he said.
He pointed out that Operation Hadarin Daji had been of immense importance to the security of the state and that they have not been sleeping even though peace has returned to the state.
“This component of the military has contributed very much in the fight to the restoration of peace to many parts of the state,” he noted.
THISDAY