The deceased was said to have been invited by members of the Community Protection Guards to its office in Tsafe town, the headquarters of the local government area, on Saturday on the allegation that he was romancing with the bandits.
Addressing newsmen immediately after the funeral prayer of the deceased in Yandoto town, Marafa said he encouraged the late Lawal to honour the invitation of the CPG to hear the allegations leveled against him.
He said, “When I was informed that members of the CPG had invited Magaji Lawal to their office, I called him and told him that he should honour the invitation because they are members of a government agency.
“But to my utmost surprise, someone called me and told me that Magaji Lawal has lost his life during the interrogation by the members of the CPG.”
Marafa alleged that the deceased was tortured and injury inflicted on him.
“From what we have seen, Magaji Lawal was allegedly killed by officials of the CPG as some of the people invited along with him were tortured and released,” he added.
According to him, the idea of the state government establishing CPG was a welcome development to end the act of banditry.
“I’m really in support of the government to fight banditry and ready to give necessary support to it, but my concern was alleged recruitment of persons with questionable character,” he added.
Marafa, however, vowed to follow all necessary channels to assert the true circumstances that led to the death.
Meanwhile, the state government has issued a directive for security agencies to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident that resulted in the death.
In a statement, the Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Nakwada, said the incident happened as a result of fracas between two factions of the local vigilante groups of the area.
Nakwada said, “The government is fully cognisant of the skirmish between the two factions, but the situation is now completely under control.
“The government is committed to ensuring that anyone found culpable in this incident will be sanctioned to the full extent of the law.”
