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A notorious terrorist leader, Bello Turji, has accused the current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, of empowering terrorists during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State.
According to Premium Times, Turji claims that between 2019 and 2023, Matawalle's amnesty program, designed to offer financial incentives and protection to bandits who surrendered their weapons and abandoned criminal activities, inadvertently strengthened criminal elements.
Turji stated that the initiative failed, allowing some bandits to relocate to cities where they now orchestrate banditry operations in rural areas.
Turji made these allegations in a video released on July 18, where he is seen standing with an unidentified accomplice, both holding firearms.
Matawalle refutes claim
Meanwhile, a pro-Matawalle group, the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development, has dismissed allegations made by a wanted bandit kingpin.
The group's director, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, refuted Turji's claims, labelling them "a tissue of lies" and "baseless."
Shinkafi urged the public to disregard these allegations, asserting that no rational person should take them seriously.
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The Patriots also denied accusations that recovered arms and ammunition from bandits were stored at Government House, clarifying that the facility does not have an armoury or any storage for weapons.
"Turji's allegation is mischievous, baseless, diversionary, a hallucination and figment of the fertile imagination of a murderer long wanted by the military and will be captured to face the full weight of the law for crime against the fatherland," the statement read.
The group also praised Matawalle's proactive leadership and integrity in combating banditry.
They emphasised that no amount of blackmail or propaganda would deter the minister from fulfilling President Tinubu's Renewed Hope agenda, which aims for national security, peace, unity, and prosperity.