Zamfara Killings: Arewa Groups Petition Buhari

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to order immediate re-arrest of some top politicians earlier arrested, for allegedly being accomplices of armed bandits in Zamfara State.
The CNG argued that, unless the Presidency directs the immediate re-arrest and return to custody of the said politicians and all other suspected collaborators for proper investigation and appropriate prosecution, it risks a serious dent on its integrity.
The petition jointly signed by the Spokesman of the coalition, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman and its Zamfara State Coordinator, Bilyaminu Aliyu, sent through the Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Bello Matawalle and copies made available to newsmen in Kaduna, noted with concern that, security situation in Zamfara, which had hitherto improved is becoming worse literally by the day, with disturbing reports of bandits and their internal collaborators exploiting a huge vacuum in political will to undermine security efforts.
The CNG, which quoted Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said, from the beginning of March to April 6, there have been 169 civilian deaths in Zamfara alone, compared to 28 in Borno State and 14 in Adamawa.
The petition read in parts: “There has been a growing concern over the level of insurgency, bandit killings, kidnapping, rape, and displacement of entire communities in many states of northern Nigeria.
“Coalition of Northern Groups, disturbed by the bleeding in the North, hereby takes the bold and necessary step to address this petition to Your Excellency to draw attention to the emerging trends particularly in Zamfara State that is pregnant with complications and unforeseen consequences.
“By this patriotic representation, the CNG aims to forestall the drift toward anarchy and more bloodshed in Nigeria, and also to alert the Presidency as to where responsibility would ultimately lie if such momentous and terrible events ever came to pass.
“Zamfara State has for long faced problems with armed groups stealing cattle, kidnapping for ransom and attacking communities, which has in turn prompted some local people to form vigilante gangs.
“More recently, there has been a growth in informal mining activity in this mineral-rich region, which has attracted people from outside the state, further fuelling instability.
“The situation deteriorated so that the Nigeria Security Tracker, produced by the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), that monitors levels of violence in Zamfara and other places concluded that from the beginning of 2019, there have been 262 civilian deaths, while in the whole of 2018, there were 288 and 52 for 2017.