The Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has hailed President Bola Tinubu for ignoring calls for the dismissal of his Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, stating that the allegation he sponsored some of the bandits terrorising the state was unfounded.

The party also urged the current governor, Dauda Lawal, to consider deploying both the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches used by his predecessor to combat the worsening insecurity in the state.

The appeal came two days after hundreds of women and youths from the state staged a protest at the Department of State Services headquarters in Abuja over the heightened insecurity in Zamfara.

The protesters also blamed the immediate past governor of the state for the activities of the bandits, which they claimed were a result of his alleged collaboration with them during his administration.

The aggrieved individuals, who arrived in about 12 long buses, were restricted from accessing the premises of the security agency.