Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has stated that he chose to pursue dialogue with bandits during his tenure as Governor of Zamfara State based on advice from the local residents.
Matawalle, who was accused of funding bandits, has refuted the claims.
During an interview on Channel TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Matawalle disclosed that he consulted with various stakeholders who suggested that engaging in dialogue with the bandits was the most effective approach.
He said, “Yes I initiated the reconciliation dialogue. Of course, when I became the governor, I looked at the scenario, what is happening? Why are bandits killing people at present?
“So I was thinking the best way is to tackle the situation, so I’ve been getting a lot of advice from different centres which I ended up calling all stakeholders meeting at that time, I called the traditional rulers, the religious leaders, the security agency, the leader of the Fulani, the leader of the Asa clan.”
He continued, “I heard from each group differently. I didn’t combine them, so after we now finished the discussion. I now pack down the security agencies of the state.
“The security agency comprises the Army, police, DSS, immigration, civil defence, all of them. So we sat down together based on the recommendation we have from the people of the state, the traditional rulers. So from our recommendation, the best solution at the time was to have a dialogue with the bandits and it was a success.”
