Ebun Francis| Barely twenty-four hours after kicking against the no-fly-zone imposed on Zamfara, Governor Bello Matawalle has made a dramatic u-turn, saying he agreed with President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to curtail activities of bandits.
Governor Matawalle also said there was nothing wrong with the ban on mining in Zamfara as the ban had already been in place before now.
The governor had earlier on Tuesday while receiving the chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi in Guasau, the Zamfara State capital faulted the move by the Buhari lead government, claiming that those behind the decision is not conversant with the situation in Zamfara.
But in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday evening, Matawalle said he was not intimidated by the declaration of no-fly zone order in the state as he would welcome any move that would lead to elimination of bandits in Zamfara.
“How can I be intimidated? If I know that my resigning can make the residents sleep with their eyes closed, I can resign today. I am not that power monger, since I came to this power, I have not been that zealous that I must be a governor, no, because I am doing it because of my people.
“If not for my people, I will not be having sleepless night trying to protect the lives and property of the people of Zamfara State,” he said.
“How did the decision of Mr. President on No-fly zone affect me? I accept it and I agreed with that. People don’t even know that Zamfara don’t have airport.
“There are some states that have airports and are encountering this kind of thing, so what happen to those states? How many times have we heard that aircraft used to go to Bernin Guari and for the past eight years the former governor was acting as governor, we never heard anything about that.”
The governor also dismissed claims that helicopters used to bring weapons into Zamfara State for bandits.
“It was just misinformation, nobody has proven that and if they have, they should prove it beyond any reasonable doubt and as the Chief Security Officer of my state, security of lives and properties of my people is my primary responsibility.
“Therefore, I support any decision that will help eliminate banditry in my state. As for the ban on mining, I have no problem with that because already, there is a ban on it, that is my knowledge,” he said.
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