Zamfara State government sends 97 clerics to Saudi Arabia to pray for an end to banditry

ZAMFARA State government has sent 97 Muslim cleric to the lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia as part of its strategy to combat the incessant spare of kidnapping and banditry in the state in the hope that their prayers will help ameliorate the problem.

Over recent years, Zamfara has been one of the states worst affected by banditry as heavily armed hoodlums have terrorised vast swathes of the state. Overwhelmed by the crisis, Governor Bello Matawalle has blamed the emirs in the state for aiding the terrorists carrying out this campaign of violence.

However, in a surprise development earlier this month, the governor distributed 260 luxury cars to traditional rulers across the state. Governor Matawalle handed out the 260 2019 model Cadillac luxury cars to 17 emirs, 13 senior district heads and 230 district heads across the state.

In another major bizarre development, the governor has now sponsored 97 cleric to Saudi Arabia in the hope that their prayers will stop the banditry. These clerics are to engage in prayer sessions in almost all strategic holy places of worship in the cities of Makkah and Madina with a view to also restore peace in Nigeria in general.

Addressing the clerics before their departure, the Zamfara State deputy governor, Senator Hassan Nasiha, admonished them to consider the state and its people in their prayers. This, he said, they should do with the hope that God would cause an end to multiple problems of the nation.

Delivering a sermon at the departure, cleric, Dr Atiku Balarabe, briefed the pilgrims on how best to concentrate on their worship and prayers in Saudi Arabia. He said they should constantly remember that they are representative of all citizens of the state and to seek God’s intervention to bring an end to banditry and other crimes in Zamfara.

Dr Balarabe said the clerics must concentrate on the prayers to meet the state’s expectations considering the trust reposed in them by millions of people of the state. Terrorism has got so bad in Zamfara State that large swathes of rural areas are now completely at the mercy of bandits, with local people having to pay them protection fees.