Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara on Friday said the federal government’s proposed legal framework on mining would end banditry in the state.

In a statement by his DG Media Public Enlightenment and Communication, Yusuf Idris, Mr Matawalle commended President Muhammadu Buhari for setting up the committee.

The 14-member National Taskforce Committee was set up to draft a legal framework that would guide mining activities in the country.

The committee, chaired by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, was inaugurated on Thursday, November 25 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to the governor, the legal framework, when fully developed, would be most beneficial to the government and people of Zamfara.

“It will be a pacesetter in the right direction that provides a lasting solution to the activities of armed bandits, kidnappers and other heinous crimes being perpetrated in the state.

“There is the need for the federal government to draft a mining legal framework in order to have control and guiding rules and regulations as against the crude way many of the locals are put at life threatening risks with zero or very little benefit coming to them,” Mr Matawalle said.

He expressed dismay on the manner in which big foreign and indigenous companies and their owners, syphoned mineral resources of the state without any benefit to the government or the people.

Mr Matawalle noted with pleasure the inclusion of Commissioner for Environment and Solid Mineral Development, as a state representative on the committee.

He assured the federal government that Zamfara, as a critical stakeholder, would contribute in no small measure to the development of the mining legal framework.

(NAN)