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 reveal the locations of bandits and criminal gangs operating across the state.

 

CABIN warned that failure to act within the deadline would spark mass protests in Zamfara, Abuja, and other parts of the country, as well as 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, the coalition accused the governor of admitting complicity by acknowledging that he knows the whereabouts of bandits yet has failed to act against them.

 

“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. Anything short of this within seven days will amount to complicity,” the group declared.

 

CABIN criticized the governor for receiving billions of naira in monthly security votes without delivering results, accusing him of “weaponising lamentation” while Zamfara continues to experience worsening insecurity.

 

The coalition also alleged that bandits are not only hiding in forests and rural communities but have infiltrated political circles. It expressed concern that Zamfara has become the epicentre of Nigeria’s banditry crisis, marked by mass abductions of schoolchildren, attacks on farmers and traders, and killings of security operatives.

 

“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 said.

 

 

 

The group further urged President Bola Tinubu to personally monitor developments in Zamfara and hold the governor accountable, warning that failure to act could embolden criminal networks in other states.

 

CABIN vowed to mobilize civil society groups, student unions, and residents for coordinated protests at Government House Gusau and the National Assembly in Abuja if the ultimatum lapses without action.

 

“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 concluded.