Zamfara State governor, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar, has requested the Federal Government to refund N13 billion security expenses his government incurred in the course of fighting cattle rustling and armed banditry in the state from 2011 till date.

The governor made the request while conducting the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Muhammed Mansur Dan Ali (retd), on inspection of weapons collected from bandits, on Sunday.

This was contained in a statement issued to the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday and signed by the governor’s spokesman, Ibrahim Dosara.

He said since the assumption of office in 2011, his administration had been injecting huge amount of money in fighting the menace of banditry and cattle rustling.

According to him, since the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulated the issue of security in the hands of the Federal Government, the state resources utilised in fighting insecurity in the state, needed to be refunded back to the state for execution of more developmental projects.

Yari remarked that the setting up of a peace negotiation committee in the state had forced many bandits to surrender their weapons to the state government.

“Peace is now being enjoyed in the state, following successful peace negotiations with the bandits,” said Yari.

He also recommended the setting up of a regional forum for checking the proliferation of arms within the West African sub-region to ensure banditry-free West Africa.

Responding, Dan Ali expressed delight over the efforts of the government of Zamfara State at peace process.

He commended the governor for the efforts in the arms collection and promised to do more in supporting the state government’s efforts in the maintenance of law and order for peaceful Zamfara State.

The minister, who said security was everybody’s business, said the Federal Government had set up an air force base in the state as part of its contributions to fight bandits in the state.