Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, says he told the
truth on amount he spent on security in the state, insisting the figure is over
N13billion.
Yari spoke when he received the Federal Commissioner,
National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons,
Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, in Gusau on Thursday.
The governor was reacting to critics on his request to the
federal government to refund the N13 billion his administration spent in
fighting crime in the last five years.
“People should learn to respect their leaders and what the
leaders say and ask for clarification on what they do not know”, he said.
He recalled that armed bandits, cattle rustlers and
kidnappers caused lots of damages to lives and property and that the state
government made frantic efforts to contain the situation.
Yari further explained that the state government constituted
a committee which was chaired by the Deputy Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala
pointing out that the committee negotiated with the bandits.
He noted that the initiative resulted in many of the criminals
renouncing their act and surrendering their weapons.
Yari first requested for the refund of the money when the
Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mansur Dan-Ali came to the state on an official
visit in March.
By Wale Odunsi
