There are indications that sanity is gradually returning to gold-rich Zamfara communities, following President Bola Tinubu’s deployment of security forces to the area.
Abdulazeez Yari, former Zamfara State Governor, disclosed this on Thursday, while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
For several years, the mineral rich zone has been a theatre of warfare, as illegal miners held sway within the zones, carting away the nation’s resources.
But Yari, who disclosed that he was at the Presidential Villa to felicitate with the president, stated that, “President Tinubu has been doing his best to deal with the insecurity in the region.
“I can tell you that the issues of mining and insecurity may have a relationship and I believe the president is doing his best because he has started talking with the National Security Adviser on the issue of insecurity and the many progress that had been achieved from, I think, the last month.
“Now, in Shinkafi area and part of Zurmi, they are working to check insecurity also in parts of Anka and Chaffe, based on security reports that I get regularly from my colleague, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Security.
“When I was there, I didn’t believe that the issue of mining was one of the problems, but when I got out, I began to look at it, attending so many lectures.
“There is a relationship between the people that are causing the trouble, the miners and insecurities in the area.
“This insecurity is either through cattle rustling or human abduction.”