Dr. Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence, has responded to allegations made by his successor, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, claiming his involvement in banditry issues in the state.
Matawalle’s office denied the accusations and stated that Governor Lawal has consistently followed a pattern of accusing the Minister of sponsoring banditry, which Matawalle has repeatedly denied.
The Minister’s office referred reporters to a previous statement from his media consultants, which also denied any connection to banditry or terrorist activities, following similar allegations made by wanted bandit kingpin Bello Turji in a video.
The statement, signed by Dayemi Saka, Lead Partner at Lambert and Curtis, described the allegations as “baseless, malicious, unfounded, mischievous, and deliberate concocted lies” against Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.
The statement read in parts: “Our attention has been drawn to a video shared on the X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook page in which baseless, malicious, unfounded, mischievous and deliberate concocted lies were told against the Honourable Minister of State for Defense, H.E Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle.
“We are not unmindful of the sustained attacks on the person, integrity, and patriotic sense of duty of our client.
“What we find disheartening and despicable is the brazen disregard for public safety and national security.
“While the video speaks to its discredibility, it is pertinent to address the outlandish allegations made by Bello Turji, a wanted kingpin of banditry.
“It is noteworthy that the efforts of the honourable minister of state, while as Governor of Zamfara State between 2019 and 2023, saw banditry and all other sundry of criminality tackled head-on.
“His demonstration of the strength of Character by insisting he was not going to negotiate with Bandits after the closure of the amnesty window for them to lay down their arms, and strong insistence of Bello Turji doing such is enough motivation for the hatchet man job is he doing.”
“All arms seized, recovered, and received from bandits were submitted at Government House Gusau, and there is a record for it.
“The Government House does not have armoury, and it is also on record that the cache of arms was handed over to relevant security agencies of government.”
