Headlines
Zamfara school abduction: Treat Gov Matawalle as an accomplice – ACF
BY KAZIE UKO
The pan-northern socio-cultural and political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has asked security agencies to treat the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, as an accomplice in the abduction of over 300 schoolgirls of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata Mafara, Zamfara State.
The governor had reportedly said that he knew the identity of the kidnappers and if revealed, Nigerians would be shocked.
Matawalle had stated this when emirs in the state paid him a solidarity visit on the kidnap of the students.
But the ACF said security operatives should treat the governor as an accomplice to the kidnappers, if he fails to tell Nigerians those behind the dastardly acts.
According to a statement by the ACF, the north is embarrassed by the statement of the governor and the sundry kidnapping as well as insecurity ravaging the region.
The National Chairman of the ACF, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who signed the statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Emmanuel Yawe, in Kaduna State on Tuesday, warned against such unguarded statement by those in authorities.
The released schoolgirls arriving Government House, Gusau
READ: Zamfara schoolgirls recount tortuous ordeal with bandits
The statement read, “The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, is stunned by a statement accredited to the Zamfara Governor, Bello Matawalle.
“The governor is reported in the media to have told 17 Emirs who paid a sympathy visit to him on the kidnap of 317 school girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata Mafara, that he knew the identity of the kidnappers & if he revealed their identity, Nigerians will be shocked.
“We ask the governor to reveal their identity and let Nigerians be shocked or even the heavens fall.
“We also ask the security agencies to question the governor on the identifies of the criminals he is trying to hide. If he refuses to disclose their identities, he must be treated as an accomplice to the criminal act of kidnapping.
“The ACF has been embarrassed by the spate of kidnappings especially of school children spreading like wild fire all over the north.
“People in positions of authority that will help us out of this mess like Governor Matawalle must stop embarrassing the north and country with careless statements on a serious issue like the kidnappings of school children.
“Zamfara State and the north are way behind the rest of the country in educational development. The serial kidnappings of school pupils in the north will only worsen a bad and unacceptable state of education in the North.”