Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has called on residents to commence one-week of extensive prayers to seek God’s intervention to end armed banditry and other crimes in the state.
A press statement signed by the governor’s Press Secretary, Jamilu Iliyasu, which was made available to journalists in Gusau on Sunday said the governor made the plea when the 17 emirs in the state came to condole with him over the death of the state’s PDP Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Mallaha.
The statement said the governor noted that “his administration is making concerted efforts to bring an end to the menace of armed banditry, kidnappings and other criminal activities in the state through the stick and carrot approach.
“He said that there is need for persistent prayers in order to seek God’s divine intervention.”
The governor explained that as traditional rulers who are closer to the people, the emirs should have a lot to support the government through collaborative effort aimed at securing the state.
He, therefore, directed the traditional rulers to mobilise Imams and other Islamic Clerics to embark on the special prayers at mosques and other preaching sessions for an end to the menace and thanked them for the condolence.
Leading his colleagues, the Chairman of the state’s Council of Chiefs, who is also the Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmed, said they were at the Government House to register their condolences to the Government and people of the state over the death of Alhaji Ibrahim Mallaha, as well as an elderstatesman, Sen. Yushau Anka, who both died separately last week.
The Emir said late Ibrahim Mallaha lived a very simple life worthy of emulation by other politicians and prayed for Almighty Allah to forgive all his shortcomings and grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss.
Other callers at the Government House to pay their condolences included Zamfara State Islamic Clerics under the auspices of the Zamfara State Council of Ulamas led by its Chairman, Malam Abubakar Aliyu, and the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led by its Chairman, Comrade Bashir Mafara.
