Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari says his principal has directed security agencies to shoot anyone seen with AK-47.
The presidential disclosed this in an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, adding that Buhari called for a clampdown on bandits who have refused to surrender.
Many Nigerians have in time past cried out over the use of these weapons by bandits who kidnap and kill people. Back in November, Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, said bandits move around freely with AK-47 in various parts of the north.
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In the bid to rid Zamfara and other northern states of bandits, Shehu said the FG has decided to engage lethal force against those of them who refuse to surrender.
In the interview, Shehu expressed;
The president has ordered security forces to go into the bushes and shoot whoever they see with sophisticated weapons like AK-47. He ordered that whoever is seen with terrible weapons at all should be shot immediately.
The presidential spokesperson also said the federal government declared Zamfara a ‘no-fly zone’ following intelligence that arms were being ferried to the bandits with private jets.
Ana amfani da jirage wajen kai wa ‘yan ta’adda makamai a Zamfara – Fadar Shugaba Buhari pic.twitter.com/ZQC1LXH51Z
— BBC News Hausa (@bbchausa) March 3, 2021
President Buhari declared the ‘no-fly zone’ on Monday, following the recent abduction of schoolgirls in the state and amid other banditry attacks.
Read Also: Insecurity: Buhari Declares Zamfara ‘No Fly-Zone’, Bans Mining Activities
Shehu added that jets are also used to cart away gold from the state to Dubai, which, according to him, prompted the ban on mining activities also announced on Tuesday.
He expressed;
These jets are being used to pick up gold that is being mined in some parts of Zamfara and exported. This is strong because at the moment.
There is a Nigerian gold market in Dubai. The government is losing, the people of this country are losing, that’s why it is said that gold mining is banned for those who are not made by the government.
The ban on mining activities in Zamfara was first announced in April 2017 amid reports that actors going after the state’s gold reserves were fuelling its security crisis.
