Governor Abdulaziz Yari said, yesterday, that he is ready to quit as governor if a state of emergency is declared to solve the security problem in Zamfara state as bandits continue to wreak havoc in the State.
This came as the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, revealed also yesterday that all five of its personnel, including the pilot, co-pilot and three crew members died in Wednesday’s helicopter which crashed in fight against Boko Haram in Borno State.
Governor Yari, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, also lamented the shortage of police personnel in the state, stressing that with the presence of securitymen, banditry, kidnapping and insurgency which had become the order of the day in the state would become a thing of the past. Briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the governor explained that his readiness to vacate his position, if President Buhari should declare a state of emergency in the state, is the culmination of the value and importance he attaches to human lives, adding that without the people, he would not be governor. The governor had less than two weeks ago, declared that he would support imposition of a state of emergency on the state, if that would help resolve the insecurity in the state which has claimed hundreds of lives.
Fielding question on why he met the President, Governor Yari said: “You are aware of what is happening in Zamfara State and some parts of neighbouring states on the issue of banditry, kidnapping and insurgency. “So, it is necessary for me to come forward and brief the President as the Commander-in-Chief. We sat down as head of security in the state and all other stakeholders and looked at the situation and came with a report that we think would help heads of security agencies here, through Mr. President, to strategize so that they can know what actually the problem is.”
On the present situation in the state, Yari said it was calm, adding that with the encouragement of the President and deployment of more security agents in the state, the situation would improve. “The situation on ground now is calm and as a state, we are putting all our best to ensure that normalcy returns and we have started getting results. “We believe strongly that with what we have on ground, with the number of securitymen, if they take their jobs seriously, within a short period of time, we can get out of where we are. “We hope with the encouragement from the President and the encouragement from the service chiefs, the issue will become something of the past in a short time,” he said.
On whether he was prepared to leave office if a state of emergency was declared in the state, Governor Yari said he valued the lives of human beings more than the position he occupied, noting that without the people, he would not be in the office as governor. He said: “Actually, it is the life of people we are talking about and not the position. We are there because lives are there, if there are no lives there, what is the essence of leadership? “Therefore, I did not call for declaration of state of emergency in the state out of politics, I am serious about it. “The way some people are talking about it politically, I am not looking at it that way. Since I assumed office, I have never looked at insecurity as being political but I am looking at it as criminality and I approach it in a way it could be solved. “Some politicians for about three years, have been calling for a state of emergency and I said if the declaration of state of emergency will solve the problem, I am ready.”
The governor, however, said he did not discuss declaration of emergency in Zamfara with the President in his meeting with him. Asked if he was overwhelmed by activities of the bandits, Governor Yari said he is not but was quick to add that as a leader, he was worried about the incessant attacks and killings. He said: “There is no territory the bandits occupied, they are there in the forests but the problem I shared with the President is that there was instruction given by the President that any policeman who has stayed more than three years should be transferred. “Unfortunately, those that were transferred have not been replaced. So out of 230 districts and 147 electoral wards with over 20, 000 people, it is only in 23 (wards) that we have Police presence. So, you can understand a number of places that there is no presence of security and these people are aware and those are the places they (the bandits) hit most. “They hardly go to any area there is police or security presence because they know that the security men will attack them. I told the President that we need attention of the Inspector-General of Police so that the police officers transferred could be replaced.”
On whether election would take place in the state, in view of the security challenges on ground, Yari said election would take place in the state, stressing that people have also exaggerated the situation in the state. “There is no place occupied by bandits, they live in the forest where they operate on hit-and-run basis. They take advantage of the terrain because they rear their cattle there and they know the terrain more than the security agencies. “Security agents find it difficult to trace the terrain. Sometimes, they go to where people are mining. Therefore, aircraft for surveillance or reconnaissance cannot find out anything at all. The bandits hit and run and don’t occupy any territory, the governor said.
