"It has clearly shown that Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), the NSA has completely lost touch with reality, because up till date, Zamfara state has no functional local or international airport.”
Coalition of Nigerian Civil Society Groups (NSCG) has described the declaration of a no-fly zone in Zamfara State as the political intimidation of Governor Bello Matawalle because he is from the opposition party.
CNCSG Spokesperson, Ambassador Lukman Salaudeen, disclosed this during a press conference in Kaduna.
Salaudeen stated that the declaration after just one occasion of children abduction, as against the disturbing security challenges in Katsina, Niger and Borno, was a move to declare a state of emergency in the state governed by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said, “Zamfara State till date has no functional local or international airport, but an airport under construction and the work progress is below 60% completion.
"The advice of the National Security Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari to declare Zamfara State a ‘No Flight Zone’, is nothing but a politically influenced decision and deliberate act of intimidation of a sitting governor in our dear country.
"It has clearly shown that Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), the NSA has completely lost touch with reality, because up till date, Zamfara state has no functional local or international airport.”
The group lamented that no security personnel or chiefs were even queried or pronounced suspended “which spurs out the fundamental questions of why Matawale, who put up his efforts to negotiate the release of the children so as to save the government from the face of shame despite the fact that he is not of the ruling party".
"Historically, under this present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, a series of mass abductions, kidnapping of secondary schoolchildren has occurred, notably in Borno (Chibok girls), Katsina (Kankara Boys), Niger (Kagara Boys) and most recently Zamfara (Jangege Girls)," the coalition stated respectively.
"It will interest you to note that the most ridiculous, embarrassing and daring schoolchildren abduction occurred in early December 2020 (Over 300 Kankara boys) during the presidential private visit to his home state (Katsina).
"It's the most embarrassing one to the entire security architecture and our dear nation in recent time, because from Kankara where the students were abducted in their large numbers is less than 300 km from Daura where the president and the first family were residing at that moment, so it simply implies that our President and his immediate family are also vulnerable to abduction as the security under this regime has become the worst ever in the history.”