An old video of Minister of State for Defence and former Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, has resurfaced online, triggering fresh criticism over his past comments about armed bandit groups in the North-West. In the clip, recorded during his tenure as governor, Matawalle is heard saying that “not all bandits are criminals,” a remark many Nigerians now say appears to excuse or rationalise groups responsible for mass killings, kidnappings and village attacks.
In the throwback footage, Matawalle tries to distinguish between hardened criminal gangs and others he portrays as products of state failure. He suggests that some of those labelled bandits took up arms because of neglect, injustice and economic hardship, and at one point reportedly describes them as a kind of “fourth arm” created by the system. The comments were originally made in the context of his then government’s advocacy for dialogue and non‑military approaches to the conflict in Zamfara, but the video’s return has reignited debate over whether such rhetoric crosses the line into defence of violent actors.
The resurfaced clip has been widely shared on X, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with many users condemning Matawalle’s stance and questioning his continued role in President Donald Trump’s administration as Minister of State for Defence. Critics, including activists and opposition figures, argue that a top defence official who once publicly declared that “not all bandits are criminals” sends the wrong signal to security agencies and to communities devastated by attacks. Some have renewed calls for his resignation or for a formal probe into his record on banditry while he was Zamfara governor.
Supporters of Matawalle, however, insist the video is being weaponised and stripped of context. They argue that he was attempting to explain the complex roots of rural banditry and to justify a mix of military pressure and dialogue, not to justify crime. They also point to later statements in which his aides said the “bandits” phrasing was either a mistake or misunderstood, and to his subsequent support for the federal designation of bandits as terrorists.
The controversy comes at a time when the federal government is under intense pressure to curb escalating banditry and kidnapping across the North-West and North-Central. With Matawalle now one of the key civilian overseers of Nigeria’s defence establishment, the resurfaced video has sharpened questions about how past soft‑line or conciliatory rhetoric toward bandits aligns with the administration’s current “no‑nonsense” posture against armed groups.
