Former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, has implored President Buhari to handle the issue of insecurity in the North-West more seriously.
“This insecurity is a catastrophe that has befallen us. The situation in Sokoto and Zamfara states can only be described by those who have been there,” Mr Bafarawa told BBC Hausa.
“The sad thing is that we all know that the security of the nation is in the hands of the Federal Government. Those people telling President Muhammadu Buhari that everything is OK, or are they telling him things are not OK? If they are telling him things are going on fine, they have cheated him and have cheated us too.
“Allah knows that we are in a serious calamity in our zone.”
Bafarawa gave his first-hand testimony of what was happening during his trip back to the area.
“Today, I travelled home and came back, I am an eyewitness, not that somebody told me. Our people are harvesting millet in abundance, we’ve gotten millet and rice, but people cannot convey the farm produce home. Whoever went to the farm to convey the crops home, will not come back alive,” the former governor said.
When reminded that his assessment on this issue could be seen as a partisan claim, Mr Bafarawa responded, “My call here is that we should put politics aside. This is a situation that affects me, it affects the President and he is the one that will be answerable to Allah.”