The police command in Zamfara says that 87 per cent of farmers in the North-Western state have returned to their farms following an improved security situation.

Police commissioner Muhammad Shehu announced this at a stakeholders’ interactive session held in Gusau on Monday.

“Banditry and other criminal activities have significantly reduced. Some of the bandits were killed. Others are looking for windows to surrender themselves to the government,” said the police chief in Zamfara.

Mr Shehu added, “With this development, more food will be produced to address hunger in the country. The security agencies are more determined than ever; more troops and weapons will be deployed to the state to ensure that life and property are protected.”

The police commissioner called on stakeholders to sensitise their subjects against partaking in the planned national mass protest against the government.

He said most of those mobilising for the demonstration were criminals focused on destabilising the country and causing anarchy.

“We all need to remind ourselves of the current security in Zamfara; we are managing to keep the peace. Our youths should not join any protest that could hurt our peace,” he said.

The NLC chairman in Zamfara, Sani Haliru, and the vice-chairman, Jamaatu Izalatul Bidia Waiqamatussunnah, Mallam Umar Hassan, in their remarks, called on the government to review its policy on fuel subsidy.

They claimed that the major factor responsible for the hardship in Nigeria was the removal of fuel subsidies, urging the President to think second about the matter.

“We are not, in any way, supporting the mass protest, but it is constitutional. The government should address the societal needs to stop the youths from protesting.

Also contributing was Abdullahi Isyaku, the students union’s vice-chairman of the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda chapter, who decried the level of students dropping from academic sessions because of high registration fees.

He claimed that most students sponsor themselves and keep struggling to feed.

“The student loan scheme introduced by the federal government has yet to become a reality,” said Mr Isyaku.

(NAN)