A few hours after his successor and the governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, accused him of being behind banditry in the state, the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, has denied the allegations, stating that during his reign as governor, he tackled banditry and all forms of criminality head-on.
In a statement signed by Dayemi Saka, Lead Partner at Lambert and Curtis, the Bello Matawalle’s office, while reacting to the allegations, expressed dismay that Governor Lawal has ceaselessly and baselessly accused the Minister of sponsoring banditry.
The media office said Matawalle has always denied his involvement in banditry or terrorist activities, especially after a similar allegation by notorious bandit’s kingpin, Bello Turji, describing the claims as baseless and mere attempts to distract and discredit him.
The statement partly read: “Our attention has been drawn to a video shared on the X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook page in which baseless, malicious, unfounded, mischievous and deliberately concocted lies were told against the Honourable Minister of State for Defence, H.E, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.
“We are not unmindful of the sustained attacks on our client’s person, integrity, and patriotic sense of duty.
“What we find disheartening and despicable is the brazen disregard for public safety and national security.
“While the video speaks to its discredibility, it is pertinent to address the outlandish allegations made by Bello Turji, a wanted kingpin of banditry.”
The statement added: “It is noteworthy that the efforts of the honourable minister of state, while as governor of Zamfara State between 2019 and 2023, saw banditry and all other sundry of criminality tackled head-on.
“His demonstration of the strength of character by insisting he was not going to negotiate with bandits after the closure of the amnesty window for them to lay down their arms, and strong insistence of Bello Turji doing such is enough motivation for the hatchet man job is he doing.
“All arms seized, recovered, and received from bandits were submitted at Government House, Gusau, and there is a record for it. The Government House does not have an armoury, and it is also on record that the cache of arms was handed over to relevant government security agencies.
“Anyone with basic knowledge of psychoanalysis of a terrorist and deranged mind like Turji will know that he is engaging in ‘victim mentality.’”