By Haruna Usman, Birnin Kebbi
A factional commander of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, VGN, in Kebbi State, Malam Lawal Musa has rejected outcome of the truce meeting held between them and Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Yakubu Bala Tafida on behalf of Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State.
The crisis rocking the VGN, Kebbi State command took a new twist when the trio of Sanusi Geza, Lawal Augie and Lawal Musa each laid claims to the leadership position of the group, rejecting the efforts of the state government to broker truce amongst them.
The crisis which began during the past administration of former Governor Atiku Bagudu could not be resolved for eight years because each of them maintained their ground claiming rightful ownership of the command.
Recently, Kebbi government waded in to bring the warring factions together for the common good of Kebbi people as a result the secretary to the state government, Alhaji Yakubu Bala Tafida summoned them to his office to broker peace, but his effort ended deadlock.
However, they were invited for another round of talks, which Sanusi Geza and Lawal Augie attended where surrendered to Geza, though in the absence of Lawal Musa who was absent at the meeting.
However, reacting to the truce reached by the SSG affirming Sanusi Geza as the state commander and Augie as his deputy, Malam Lawal Musa rejected the development and denied ever being invited for the second meeting, saying he was only served a letter containing the resolution of the meeting.
“I hereby reject the outcome of the meeting as I was informed of the meeting to say my number could not be reached is funny because my phone is on 24/7, so the claim is false therefore not acceptable by me and my members”.
In a petition he copied the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Service (DSS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other concerned bodies, he said a matter before the court could not just be settled without his consent.
He described as a charade the appointment of Sanusi as the state commander of VGN saying such a decision is rejected and cannot stand.
Efforts by NationsPride to hear from Sanusi Geza were unsuccessful as he told our correspondent he has no right to ask him his side of the story since the government has taken a decision on the matter.