The Coalition of Citizens Against Banditry and Insecurity in Nigeria (CABIN) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal, demanding that he disclose the locations of bandits and other criminal gangs operating across the state.
The group warned that failure to act within the deadline would trigger mass protests and pressure on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara.
In a statement on Wednesday signed by its president, Comrade Solomon Charles Abutu, CABIN said the governor’s recent comments acknowledging knowledge of the bandits’ whereabouts amounted to an admission that he had chosen to tolerate, rather than combat, the criminal networks responsible for thousands of deaths, kidnappings, and the displacement of communities.
“Governor Dauda Lawal has confirmed in his own words that he knows where the killers, kidnappers and bloodthirsty bandits reside. By that singular admission, he owes Nigerians a moral and constitutional duty to immediately hand over these criminals to the relevant security agencies,” CABIN said.
“Anything short of this within seven days will amount to complicity, and will attract massive protests across Zamfara, Abuja and other parts of the country. In that event, we shall also demand that the Federal Government declare a state of emergency in Zamfara for the safety of its citizens.”
The organisation, which describes itself as a national coalition of civic advocates, security analysts and community leaders, expressed outrage that the governor has continued to receive billions of naira in monthly security votes but has yet to deliver results in securing the state.
CABIN argued that the governor’s public lamentation of helplessness, despite vast resources at his disposal, is a betrayal of the hopes of millions of Zamfara citizens who voted for him in 2023.
“Every month, Governor Dauda Lawal receives billions in security votes ostensibly to equip operations, motivate security agents and support civilian intelligence. Yet what Zamfara has seen instead is worsening insecurity and a governor who has openly confessed he cannot do anything to end the crisis. That is not governance; that is abdication of responsibility,” the group said.
CABIN went further, claiming that bandits were not only embedded in rural forests and urban hideouts, but also within the corridors of power.
“We have it on good authority that bandits also live with Governor Lawal in Government House. They wine and dine with politicians, receive protection from compromised officials, and have infiltrated the system. The governor must turn them over to the law enforcement agencies without delay. Nigeria cannot continue to bleed while those elected to protect us provide cover for our killers,” the statement read.
The group noted that Zamfara has become the epicentre of Nigeria’s banditry crisis, with repeated abductions of schoolchildren, farmers, and traders, alongside attacks on security operatives. CABIN said the situation has reached intolerable levels and accused the governor of “weaponising lamentation” rather than providing solutions.
“Governance is not lamentation. Leadership is not about saying ‘I cannot do it’. It is about deploying courage, political will, and resources to confront insecurity head-on. If Governor Lawal has run out of ideas, let him resign honourably instead of normalising excuses,” CABIN declared.
The coalition also urged President Bola Tinubu to personally monitor developments in Zamfara and hold Governor Lawal accountable, warning that further tolerance of what it described as “gross dereliction of duty” could embolden criminal networks elsewhere in the country.
“Zamfara has for too long been Nigeria’s bleeding ground. If the governor continues to shield criminals by inaction, then the President must act decisively in the interest of national security,” CABIN said.
The group vowed to mobilise residents, civil society organisations and student unions for a wave of protests at Government House Gusau and the National Assembly in Abuja should the ultimatum lapse without action.
“We are prepared to raise the alarm at every level of society because the lives of Zamfara’s people matter. We will not watch idly while indifference and complicity reign. Governor Lawal has seven days to prove his loyalty to the Nigerian people, or face the full weight of civic resistance,” the group declared.
