The PAIR in a statement in Abuja on Thursday said it was tragic and unfortunate that the federal government has failed to arrest the security challenge in Zamfara for over two years now, urging President Buhari to sack the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali.
The civil society group noted that despite the fact that Dan Ali is from the state, he has failed to demonstrate that he can protect his home state, talk less of other states in the country.
“What we find happening in Zamfara state is not only unfortunate but tragic. It is inconceivable that two years on, the federal government has failed to address the orgy of killings in Zamfara state.
“We wonder why we still have a government when the constitutional guarantee that security and welfare of the people are the primary responsibility of government,” the statement signed by Isa Yaro, national publicity officer of the PAIR, read.
According Yaro, if the president was serious about addressing the senseless killings in Zamfara state and in other parts of the country, he should immediately sack the Minister of Defence who has demonstrated he was out of tune with modern military tactics and know-how.
“Is it not obvious that Gen. Mansur Dan Ali is out of tune with modern military warfare and tactics to weed out the bandits in Zamfara state? How can a man who is incapable of protecting his home state be committed to protecting other parts of the country?
“We believe that Dan Ali has overstayed his usefulness as a minister especially in a sensitive capacity as that of defence and it is about time that he is sacked having failed woefully.”
Yaro stressed that Governor Abdulaziz Yari has little blame in the tragedy that has become of Zamfara state as he is not in control of the military, but has supported them with hardware and special allowances running into billions.
“Let it be on record that Governor Yari had severally raised the alarm over happenings in Zamfara state knowing fully well he has no control over the military and police but little has come out of it.
“With the ugly development in Zamfara state, it is about time that the issue of state police is given serious thought so that governors can be properly held accountable in the instance case of insecurity.”
