Situation Room on Monitoring the War Against Banditry has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare state of emergency in Zamfara State.
At a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, the group also wants federal allocations due to the state to be freezed over alleged role of Governor Dauda Lawal “in perpetuating the region’s rampant banditry.”
North West geopolitical zone of the country has been taken over by bandits.
The Convener of Situation Room, Patriot Henry Abba, who read the text of the press conference, accused Governor Lawal’s administration of using security votes to subsidized criminal elements operating in Zamafara State.
“This is nothing short of feeding bandits right from Government House,” the group said, pointing at “Lawal’s recent viral video where he openly disclosed knowledge of bandit kingpins’ hideouts but stopped short of decisive action.”
He described the governor’s statements as a “damning admission of guilt” that has plunged Zamfara deeper into chaos.
“It’s shocking, heartbreaking – a blatant betrayal of trust and a catastrophic leadership failure,” Abba stated.
He argued that the governor’s reluctance to relay critical intelligence to federal security outfits has transformed the state into a “notorious graveyard,” where abductions, massacres, and mass displacements have become the grim routine for innocent residents.
The convener painted a harrowing picture of Zamfara’s plight, and said villages has been “reduced to rubble, families torn apart by nightly raids, and farmlands abandoned under the shadow of fear.
“Despite the state’s substantial security budget – reportedly N3 billion disbursed monthly – Lawal’s professed helplessness was dismissed as utterly irresponsible.”
This he said, is an affront to frontline troops risking their lives and a desecration of the sacrifices made by fallen heroes in the fight against insurgency.
He challenged Lawal to substantiate any claims of prior intelligence-sharing with agencies like the military or police, questioning why such vital information has seemingly evaporated into bureaucratic voids.
The Situation Room also accused the governor of enabling a system where local government allocations, intended for rural development, are allegedly siphoned into personal coffers.
“It’s politics pushed to extremes – a theatrical bid to obscure the anarchy in Zamfara’s lawless frontiers,” Abba said.
He advocated for a collaborative investigation involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Department of State Services (DSS), and the Office of the National Security Adviser to unearth any diversions of public resources to criminal ends.
The group demanded a National Assembly-led inquiry on Governor Lawal’s stewardship, and for transparency on how security intelligence is managed.
“We need safeguards for whistleblowers and victims who have been muzzled,” Abba said, adding that if the probes confirm the governor’s complicity in sustaining bandit networks, the president should declare emergency rule in Zamfara State “to restore order and reclaim the state from terror’s grip.
“President Tinubu cannot afford complacency; this is a clarion call to safeguard Nigeria’s unity.”
