APGA chieftain writes Buhari demands arrest of ex-Gov Yari

TRACKING____Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2019 general elections, Dr. Sani Shinkafi, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari calling for the arrest of former Governor of Zamfara state, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari for allegedly inciting violence in the state.

In the open letter to the President which was copied to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the service chiefs, the chief of defence staff and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Shinkafi stated that he is writing to draw attention to the ugly development in the state caused by alleged unguarded and provocative statements made by Yari.

“Over N2.8 billion has been paid as ransom by victims of kidnapping and over 6,483 women have been widowed in attacks by bandits in the state.

“I hereby demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the former Governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari for disobeying the subsisting order of the security agencies banning any forms of public gatherings, political parties meetings and associations, including rallies across the state.

“It is on record that about 8, 500 private militia popularly called ‘Yansakai’ were recruited illegally by the past administration in all the 17 emirates through the former Commissioner for Local and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Gamji without the bill being passed by state House Assembly establishing the vigilante service group and assent by the governor as a law governing the recruitment and operations of ‘Yansakai’.

Shinkafi, who is also the secretary of the board of trustees of APGA noted further that “it is still fresh in our memory the reported arrest, abduction, torture and killing of innocents citizens in the markets, streets, with bodies lying on the streets and nobody stopping them from the jungle justice that went on in the whole of Zamfara state.

“Abdulaziz has been seen publicly inciting his factional APC members not to recognize the administration of Governor Bello Matawalle as the executive governor of Zamfara state, but insisted that they called him a sole administrator.

“Severally, he has rejected the May 24, 2019 judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria painting the eminent jurists of the apex court with all kinds of names.”

He said that “there are weighty allegations that some persons are planning to use unrepentant bandits to disrupt the peace accord in the state.

“The volunteer vigilante group ‘Yansakai’ loyal to Yari have refused to embrace the disarmaments and arms control programme of the state government to augment peace accord initiated by Gov. Matawalle.

“There are intelligence reports that Yansakai recruited in Gummi and had concluded plans to attack some Fulani settlements to ignite another security breach in the state and set the state on fire again.

“It is on record that the Zamfara state Police Command had on September 24, 2019 following intelligence reports that Boko Haram was planning to attack and bomb some places in the state like the Central Mosque Gusau, Maradum, Anka, Talata Marafa, Kauran Namoda and Tsafe.”

He said it was the planned assassination of the deputy governor and the speaker of the state House of Assembly that ignited the ban on all forms of political rallies, meetings and processions in the state.