(Fred Itua, ABUJA)

Disturbed by the growing insecurity in Zamfara state and the inability of the state government to salvage the situation, a former Senator, Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to declare a state of emergency.

Senator Dansadau who presented a copy of the letter to the Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said since 2011, Dansadau state constituency alone has recorded about three hundred and sixty deaths as a result of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and cattle rustlers.

He further alleged that in the other 23 local government areas of the state, there were similar underreported killings in the state.

He said that said rather than tackle the issue of insecurity in the state, Governor Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar of Zamfara state has spent only about 20% of the whole period in office in Zamfara State since 2011. He said the Governor utilized the other 80% traveling from one part of the country to the other and shuttling around the globe.

Dansadau lamented that if a state of emergency was not declared in the state, more lives will be lost to clashes between herdsmen and cattle rustlers.

Senator Dansadau said: “Nobody keeps money at home any longer in Zamfara state because there is actually no money to keep. The marauders having robbed the populace of all they have. Subsequently, the next phase was kidnappings for ransom, and abduction of women for rape, sometimes the husbands are forced to watch. In some cases, these women are raped to death.

“The new strategy of the rustlers/criminals in Zamfara State is to impose a certain amount to be paid by the villages, to avoid being attacked, killed and women raped. These levies range from N200,000.00 to Nl,500,000.00 at any time. The imposition of these levies to eschew attack has become recurring, with villages paying to save themselves.

“Kindly invoke your (President Buhari) powers under Section 305 (3) & (S) of the Constitution and declare a State of Emergency in Zamfara State and appoint a competent Administrator for the State until such a time when the President, through the Administrator, is satisfied that normalcy has been restored.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Information in Zamfara state, Umar Jibo, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said claims made by Senator Dansadau were false and should not be taken seriously.