Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has suggested that ‘informats’ are preventing bandits from being defeated in Nigeria.
Bandits will be easily defeated in the country without informants, according to Matawalle.
The Governor made the remarks on Monday while receiving five daughters of a former Zamfara Accountant-General who had been kidnapped and held for seven months.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 10, Mr Bello Sani-Deljan, accompanied by the Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Mr Kolo Yusuf, presented them to Matawalle.
In March, bandits kidnapped the five girls from their home in Furfuri, Bungudu Local Government Area.
In October, the bandits posted a video on social media showing the girls holding sophisticated firearms and threatening to recruit them into banditry if the ransom was not paid.
However, a joint effort by the police and other security personnel resulted in the girls’ unharmed rescue.
Matawalle, on the other hand, praised the security forces for their efforts and urged them to put an end to banditry in the state.
He noted that intelligence reports indicated that the girls were successfully abducted with the assistance of informants who were either family members or close associates.
The Governor urged residents to “courageously fight informants by reporting suspects to authorities without fear.”
“Without informants, bandits will be strongly incapacitated and will easily be defeated,’’ Matawalle said.
The Governor directed that the girls be taken for proper medical checks and counselling before reuniting them with their family.