The Minister of State for Defense, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has declared that there is no presence of Lakurawa militants in the Northwest zone.
Addressing newsmen at his Gusau residence on Sunday, the former Governor of Zamfara State said that military troops have neutralized terrorist gangs, destroyed their camps, and recovered arms and ammunition from them.
Speaking further, he said that these criminals are not Nigerians but disgruntled elements who came to Nigeria from Burkina Faso and Mali to cause havoc.
“We have finished with them in the Northwest zone. Anybody talking about Lakurawa militants is doing so to tarnish the image of the Federal Government and security agencies,” he lamented.
Continuing, the minister stressed that people are spreading rumors to instill fear in citizens and criticized journalists, especially social media operators, for believing such claims without verifying the information.
“The military troops are killing the bandits’ kingpins and their foot soldiers on a daily basis. But the social media operators are not reporting this,” he said
