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.
