Ransom Payments Strengthen Bandits' Access to Advanced Arms, Says Zamfara Governor Lawal

In an interview with Channels Television, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal restated his long-standing rejection of talks with bandits. He said paying ransoms allows kidnappers to buy advanced weaponry and mount more attacks. Lawal said his position has not changed since he assumed office. He stated, “I would say this: my stance has always been no negotiation with the bandits. From day one, and I still maintain that stance.” He added that abductions have become business-like, with captors demanding money, and that complying only strengthens the bandits. According to him, every payment made goes toward obtaining the sophisticated arms they use. If they did not receive money, he asked, how would they obtain weapons? The governor remembered that two of his brothers were kidnapped and that the abductors asked for N300 million per person. He said he declined to pay. Lawal said the victims were already in the custody of the kidnappers, who had come to take them and had even collected them from their homes, so he would not pay for their release. He said he preferred to use such money elsewhere and that he firmly believed that if the brothers were destined to die during that time, they would die. He said no one would do anything, but he would not surrender his money to a criminal and enable further wrongdoing. Lawal also faulted negotiations carried out by earlier governments. He argued that because bandit factions lack one central leader, such talks do not work. An accord with one group, he said, can push another to attack in order to seek recognition. He said this has happened many times and he has witnessed it. When you negotiate with A, B may feel slighted, Lawal said, and then B acts to show that he too deserves acknowledgment. He asked how one could negotiate with people of that kind, noting that no one accepts responsibility or leadership.