The federal government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday blamed traditional rulers for the rising incidence of violent crimes in the northern parts of Nigeria.
The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, on behalf of the FG, said that fresh intelligence had exposed the complicity of some highly-placed traditional rulers in current killings across the northern parts of Nigeria.
Dan Ali, in a statement on Tuesday indicated that unnamed but high profile traditional leaders had been identified as culpable in the violence, and vowed that they would not be sparred.
The minister appealed that the locals, especially, in Sokoto, Katsina, Zamfara and other parts of northern Nigeria ravaged by faceless gunmen, should “rise in unison to support all government’s efforts” towards addressing the crisis. He remarked that soldiers and other elements in the armed forces cannot combat the bandits alone.
“It is instructive to mention here that insurgency and terrorism are global phenomena that cannot be addressed through military actions only.
“However, in spite of the concerted efforts of the Armed Forces and other security some unpatriotic persons including highly placed traditional rulers in the areas were identified as helping the bandits with intelligence to perpetuate their nefarious actions or to compromise military operations,” the minister declared.
The Defence Minister noted that the suspension of mining across Zamfara was amongst the important decisions the federal government believed was crucial to returning normalcy to the troubled zone.