The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), an umbrella body of civil associations in the North, has again called for the imposition of emergency rule in Zamfara State.
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), an umbrella body of civil associations in the North, has again called for the imposition of emergency rule in Zamfara State.
The CNG made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday by Mr. Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, it's spokesperson. According to the statement, the security situation in the state has spun out of control, as defenseless citizens are being routinely killed.
"The persistence of unrest and banditry in the state, and the dimension that they have taken of recent, with the Zurmi massacre of about 50 people and the latest daring attempts on some communities in Talata Mafara are a serious cause for concern to us and to all well-meaning Nigerians," said CNG.
The coalition said it believes that the state government has abandoned the citizens and that the governor, Mr. Abdul-Aziz Yari, is behind the indiscriminate destruction of lives and properties.
"It is with the utmost concern that we note that while the terrorized community of Zurmi was tearfully burying its dead at a mass funeral, Mr. Yari was languishing in Abuja at the expense of the state."
"Arrogantly unmoved by the situation, Mr. Yari refused to return to the state upon receiving the news of the attacks, but instead flew to Katsina and was later sighted at a political meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and others in Daura," said CNG.
The coalition added that the governor later left the country on private business. It equally stated that the violence in the state began in 2011 when Mr. Yari became governor.
Giving instances of violence, CNG said on 18 January, gunmen on motorcycles killed six people, wounded four and abducted two sons of a federal legislator at Gora in Maradun Local Government Area.
Another instance, said the coalition, was on 22 September 2017, when gunmen on motorcycles killed an official at the Tsafe Local Government Area office of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). In January 2017, suspected herdsmen killed a hunter in Magazu Village, Tsafe Local Government Area, while looking for a rustler, who allegedly stole their cow.
The coalition also recalled that on 19 November 2016, 25 were people killed by cattle rustlers at Dole, Tudun Bugaje, and Kwangwami in Zurmi Local Government Area. It also instantiated the trend with the November 2016 kidnap of 40 villagers and livestock theft in Maru Local Government Area, killing of 40 gold miners at a mining camp near Gidan Ardo in Maru Local Government Area and killing of 10 traders by armed robbers at 10 Kanoma town among numerous others.
CNG said it is of the view that the rampant violence is encouraged by a ready availability of sophisticated weapons.
In addition to the killings and constant threat to citizens' lives, said CNG, Zamfara State has lacked progress because the governor is always traveling around the world for private business.
"Yari's administration has, thus far, scandalized the institutions of the state, ridiculed its traditions and customs and encouraged rampant poverty, corruption and social problems like armed robbery and kidnapping."
"And while this sad development that has left citizens of the state traumatized with a future uncertain, Yari has made himself a lackey, all the time is seen in Abuja seeking personal favors around the presidency," said CNG.
It accused the state legislature of failure to curb the governor, adding that the National Assembly is also complicit in its complacency.
"Specifically disturbing is the manner in which the Senate deliberately turned its back and refused to resolutely act even after a senator from Zamfara drew its attention to the horrors and fears that have become the daily norm of the state."
"The National Assembly, instead, remained adamant to the reality that Zamfara has been, and is currently gripped by rounds of recurring violence that have claimed several thousand lives and displaced much more leaving behind battalions of orphans, widows and incapacitated people," the coalition fumed.
The groups asked the civil society in Zamfara State and the whole of the country to note that Mr. Yari is incompetent and incapable of discharging the primary duties of his office.
"It leads to the bitter conclusion that this man is not ready to govern and the only remaining option for the future safety of lives in the state is replacing him and all existing structures with a military sole administrator."
We, therefore, reiterate our calls for the immediate imposition of a state of emergency on Zamfara by replacing all existing political structure with a military administration that would restore normalcy in the state and hope to the people," said CNG.