Insecurity: Nasarawa Govt frowns at Lai’s claim, repatriates herders
From Francis Nansak, Lafia
The Nasarawa state government on Monday after discovering the presence of some fulani herdsmen in a community in Wamba local government area of the state,repatriated them in droves.
This was disclosed to newsmen on Wednesday by the commissioner of information, culture and tourism,Comrade Dogo Shammah in his office in Lafia,the Nasarawa state capital
According to him,the state government attention was drawn to the presence of the foreign fulani Herders who were alleged to have entered the community from Katsina and Zamfara state respectively.
He narrated that the herdsmen arrived the area at midnight,which investigation uncovered that they were from Katsina and Zamfara states.
The Commissioner stated that” Our governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule’ quickly provided logistics and security where the herdsmen and their cows were forcefully loaded on trucks back to their claims of origin” He said.
Dogo Shammah ,however urged the people of the state to be vigilant and always report any suspecious movement of strange persons to authorities concerned.
In the same vain,the Commissioner countered a statement credited to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, which claimed that Governor Abdullahi Sule was misquoted in some sections of the media that Boko Haram were regrouping in the state.
It could be recalled that governor Sule had last Friday while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said the dislodged Boko Haram insurgents were regrouping in his state, particularly on the Benue/Nasarawa border.
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was quoted by Radio Nigeria saying Governor Sule had refuted the report while speaking with him over the issue.
Mohammed, who was briefing the media last Monday in Abuja on the progress made by the Federal Government in the war against terrorism and banditry, said the governor claimed he was quoted out of context.
“I was also concerned over this and I called the governor and asked him. But he said it was a case of being quoted out of context,” Lai claimed.
But the state Commissioner for Information, Dogo Shammah, when interacting with Journalists over the claims by the Information Minister, affirmed that the governor was quoted verbatim.
Shammah said: “The governor was quoted verbatim that this is what is happening in Nasarawa State. Please I am appealing for support from the federal might, and we stand by it.”
“That was exactly what he said. But if for any reason the minister has anything contrary, we don’t know. But as a government that was the position we took so that we can safeguard our lives and property. If there is a different meaning to it, we don’t know.”He noted.
