Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has declared that the state government may soon start implementing death penalty on bandits’ informants in the state.
The governor announced this on Sunday when he visited Lilo village of Wonaka district in Gusau local government area of the state.
He was at the village to sympathise with the people over Saturday night bandits’ attack on the community which resulted in the death of eight persons and left 18 others with bullet and knife wounds.
He said the government would not tolerate some citizens supporting bandits to carry out their criminal activities while pretending to be good fellows.
“We are going to send an executive bill to the state house of assembly immediately after the inauguration of the law makers and l want to assure the good citizens that if the bill is passed, it will be implemented to the letter,” he said.
The governor cautioned Civilian Joint Task Force members to avoid taking the laws into their hands, saying that his administration would not tolerate extra judicial killings
“As JTF members, you have no right to kill anybody; enough is enough, as from today government will not allow extra judicial killing.
“It is very sad, so regrettable the way our people are being killed every day, it is very unfortunate that we took over this government in the midst of serious security challenges not only in Zamfara but also all over the country.
“If you arrest any bandit, you should hand them over to the appropriate authorities; this administration has made adequate arrangements to tackle insecurity, all what we need is support and prayers.”
He said his government had provided more equipment for the security agencies to carry out their duties effectively.
“Security agencies are now monitoring phone calls in this state, I am therefore appealing to the bandits to repent or face the consequences of the law.
Earlier, the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello, thanked the governor for the visit and called for more support to government and security agencies in tackling the problem.
Bello appealed to communities to continue to support government with prayers to succeed in fighting banditry.
The governor donated N5 million to the families of the deceased and directed the office of the Secretary to the State Government to take care of the medical bills of all the injured persons.
