No ransom paid, I used repentant bandits to secure release of Zamfara schoolgirls, Says Bello

Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle says no ransom was paid to secure the release of the over 300 abducted students of the Government Secondary School in the Jangebe area of the state.

According to him, his administration can not negotiate with bandits.

“There is nothing in exchange for the release; we use those (bandits) that are repented. When we use them, they engage them and I said they should ask them why they did that?” he asked.

“Some of these guys did not accept our peace accord, they are many.

Some of them even refused to show their faces to the government. But those that have a good intention of repenting and coming back to society, they are working with the security agencies to make sure that the state is safe.”

 




When asked how he felt about the release of the schoolgirls, the governor said he was extremely happy with the release of the students.

He explained that his administration received the students after engaging the bandits, noting that he lost sleep within the period.

“I am very happy with the situation; I can’t measure how happy I was at that moment. On that very day, I did not sleep because they left Gusau around 11 am in the morning to the area where the children were kept.

“They did not come back to the state capital till after 4 am in the morning which we were all waiting for them in the Government House,” he added.

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