Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has disclosed that he refused to pay a ₦300 million ransom demanded by kidnappers who abducted his brothers in 2019, insisting that paying ransom only encourages kidnapping and other criminal activities.
The governor made the disclosure on Thursday while speaking at the ARISE News/THISDAY Town Hall Conference on State Police and National Security in Abuja. He also reiterated his opposition to negotiating with kidnappers and renewed his support for the establishment of state police.
Lawal said his brothers were held captive for about three months after they were abducted, but he declined to meet the kidnappers’ demand for ₦300 million.
“My own brothers were kidnapped in 2019, and the kidnappers demanded about ₦300 million. I told them I was not going to pay a dime. If they wanted to kill them, they could go ahead,” he said.
According to the governor, his brothers were eventually released without any ransom being paid.
Lawal maintained that paying ransom strengthens criminal groups by providing financial incentives for further abductions.
“If we continue to pay ransom, we are encouraging these criminals to kidnap more people. The cycle will only continue unless we stop rewarding criminality,” he said.
He added that his position on ransom payments remains unchanged, stressing that he would neither negotiate with nor pay criminals under any circumstances.
“I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens,” he said.
The governor also renewed his call for the establishment of state police, arguing that governors should be given greater operational control over security within their states.
He said the current constitutional arrangement places responsibility for security on governors without granting them the authority to direct security agencies.
“In as much as I am called the chief security officer of the state, I do not have the command-and-control authority to direct the operations of the security agencies,” he said.
Lawal added that he was prepared to support the funding of state police if the proposed policing structure was established, expressing confidence that decentralised policing would improve intelligence gathering, response times and efforts to tackle insecurity.
