By Uche Onyeali
Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle has declared that there is no presence of Lakurawa militants in the North-West geopolitical zone.
The minister, who stated this while addressing newsmen at his Gusau residence on Sunday, said military troops had neutralised terrorist gangs, destroyed their camps and recovered arms and ammunition from them.
The former Zamfara State governor added that the criminals were not Nigerians but disgruntled elements who came into the country from Burkina Faso and Mali to cause havoc.
“We have finished with them in the North-West zone. Anybody talking about Lakurawa militants is doing so to tarnish the image of the federal government and security agencies,” he said.
The minister stressed that people were spreading rumours to instill fear in citizens and criticised journalists, especially social media operators, for believing such claims without verifying the information.
“The military troops are killing the bandits’ kingpins and their foot soldiers on a daily basis. But the social media operators are not reporting this.
“We are aware that locals are giving journalists wrong information about the bandits’ activities in the state to discredit the present administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“But we will not succumb to their threats. The Tinubu administration is very much ready to wipe out all the bandits in the Northwest zone before the end of 2025.
“Security of lives and property of the citizens is the main thrust of Tinubu’s administration, and we adhere to that policy,” Mattawale noted.
He urged Nigerians to disregard the false information being spread by those he described as enemies of peace and progress.
“The battle against banditry is still on, and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. There is no going back on the arrangement to neutralise all the bandits by 2025,” he added.
