Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state has asked Nigerians to disregard the ‘not all bandits are criminals’ comment attributed to him.



The Governor’s Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Zailani Bappa admitted that Matawalle was at the presidential villa to brief President Buhari on the security situation in the state, but said he (Matawalle) tried to make clear his known view that not all Fulanis are criminals.



He said;



“He went on to explain the injustices meted on them such as rustling their cattle as reasons that pushed them to criminality.

“If indeed he mentioned the word Bandits instead of Fulani, then it was an inadvertent mistake as common sense dictates that banditry cannot at any time be justified as a non-criminality.

“We wish to call on all Nigerians who come across this story to disregard the message as that is not at all what His Excellency meant to say nor the kind of message he wanted to portray.”