Negotiating with Terrorists still the Best Option for Peace to Reign in the North – Matawalle
INFOMEDIA – The wide condemnations greeted the strategy to dialogue or negotiate with terrorists and recent denouncing of dialogue by Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, his counterpart in Zamfara State, Bello Mattawalle, has said that he has no regret entering into dialogue with the armed groups.
In a statement signed by Zailani Bappa, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Mattawale said dialogue was the best option for achieving peace in the state.
“We applied the peace accord as a means of honest solution to the problem in Zamfara state which has yielded tremendous result never expected in the last one year,” Matawalle said.
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He said the strategy ensured the reopening of roads, markets and farms, adding that the progress made surpassed the gains made through force eight earlier.
The governor said no money was paid to the terrorists but instead there was an open display of honesty by both sides
“We categorically made it clear that money was not part of the negotiations. Everyone must come to the table with honesty and genuine intention to end the carnage in our state. Nobody was enjoying the trend, including the so-called bandits,” he said.
The governor said he believed that the method applied by his administration in the pursuit of peace was “still the best where those who agree to the peace (who are the majority) will be pardoned to live a normal life while those who refuse (who are minority) will face the wrath of our security operatives.
