₦airaland Forum

Dauda Lawal, governor of Zamfara, says he refused to pay a N300 million ransom when his brothers were abducted in 2019.

The governor spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the ARISE News and THISDAY townhall conference, saying negotiating with criminals only encourages more abductions.

Lawal said he told the kidnappers to kill the abducted victims because he would not pay any ransom.

He added that the kidnappers eventually released them after three months in captivity without receiving any ransom payment.

“My own brothers were kidnapped in 2019, and these criminals were demanding at the time about N300 million,” he said.

“And I said, look, I’m not going to pay a dime. If you like, go and kill them.

“By the time we continue to pay ransom to these people, we are encouraging them to be kidnapping people more and more.

“I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens.”

The governor said he believed criminals would think twice about abducting people if ransom payments stopped.

Speaking on the creation of state police, Lawal said governors should have operational control over security in their states if they are to be held responsible for protecting lives and property.

He said one of his biggest frustrations as governor is being described as the state’s chief security officer despite having authority over security agencies.

Lawal said security is the foundation of development and questioned how governors could be held responsible for insecurity when they do not control the police.

He said state police would make elected leaders directly accountable for security in their states and also allow state governments to properly fund and train security personnel.

The governor said the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) faces poor funding, inadequate training and poor welfare, which he said affect the performance and commitment of officers.

Lawal said the Zamfara government has invested heavily in security, adding that his administration funds more than 30 percent of security operations in the state.

He said the state has provided more than 500 vehicles to security agencies in the last three years and recently supplied 35 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles to support security operations.

The governor said the state government bought surveillance and attack drones to support the security forces in fighting criminals.

Lawal said improving security agencies through better funding, training and technology, rather than negotiating with armed groups, remains the best way to tackle banditry and kidnapping.

pdppower:
The northern leaders including this governor are not ready to fight banditry yet. They know the rascals and their families, yet refuse to go decisively after them.

flokii:
You nailed it . they are not ready to end the insecurity because that is the excuse they use to embezzle the money allocated to their States...As you can see, no development, no infrastructure, nothing is being done in those troubled Staes in North, yet the allocation is being spent by the State Governors through budgets they never implement.

Once a man is able to put religious sentiment aside.. he'll start seeing the root cause and enablers of his problem. The Governors up North are seriously looting their States resources, while using Nigerian security personnel as pawns to be killed in their own game of deceit and insincerity.

Oma39:
I don't believe any saying of Nigerian politicians. They are all bunch of liars from the pit of hell