The National Association of Nigerian Students(NANs )has dismissed allegations linking the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to banditry, describing them as baseless and politically motivated.
The student body said Matawalle was being unfairly targeted at a time the country needed unity to tackle worsening insecurity.
In a statement on Wednesday, the President of the Senate, NANS Headquarters, Comrade Usman Adamu Nagwaza, said the allegations were part of a deliberate campaign to politicise national security for selfish interests.
Nagwaza said after consultations and internal reviews, the association had passed a vote of confidence on the minister, insisting he was a victim of media blackmail and political persecution.
He added that claims alleging Matawalle’s links with terrorist commanders and provision of support to bandits had been investigated and found to be unfounded.
According to him, NANS, alongside independent investigators and journalists, established that the accusations lacked evidence and were driven by political motives.
“NANS does not represent barbarism or criminality. Our concern is Nigeria, especially students, who are directly affected by insecurity,” the statement read.
The association urged President Bola Tinubu to support the minister and protect him from what it described as campaigns of calumny by “charlatans”.
It also called on the President to declare a state of emergency on insecurity and further empower the armed forces to intensify operations against criminal elements.
NANS appealed to Nigerians to support the Ministry of Defence and reject what it termed politics of character assassination.
The group maintained that Matawalle was a dedicated public servant and warned that Nigeria could not afford to lose “its best hands” to political battles.