The Minister of State for Defence and immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has condoled with the people of Maru town over the murder of their Chief Imam, late Salihu Suleiman.
He also gave a donation of N5 million and foodstuffs to the family of the deceased.
The foodstuffs donated by the minister included 10 bags of rice, 10 cartons of spaghetti, and 10 cartons of macaroni.
The late Chief Imam and his two children, who were abducted by bandits, were killed following their inability to pay the remaining balance of N9 million after collecting the sum of N11 million.
In a statement by the state’s APC Publicity Secretary Yusuf Idris, Matawalle prayed to Allah to forgive the deceased and give his family, as well as the people of Maru town, the fortitude to bear the loss.
Matawalle lamented banditry was recently taking a new dimension in the state, where religious leaders have now become the target of bandits’ attacks.
As the APC leader in the state and Minister of Defence, Matawalle assured the people that his ministry would continue to deploy more personnel to the state to completely eliminate the criminals.
He said, “The Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is taking all the necessary steps to end banditry in the northwest region”.
The minister further explained that the President had provided all the necessary equipment to the military, assuring that “peace will soon return to the region.”
He called on citizens to assist the security agencies with accurate intelligence to win the war against banditry and other criminalities.
“He said security requires every well-meaning citizen’s support irrespective of political or religious inclination”.
The minister was represented on the visit by the Secretary of the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Ibrahim Umar Dangaladima.
