Abuja — Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has revealed that he refused to pay the ₦300 million ransom demanded by kidnappers who abducted his brothers in 2019, insisting that paying ransom only strengthens criminal networks and fuels the cycle of abductions across the country.
The governor made the disclosure on Thursday during the ARISE News/THISDAY Town Hall Conference on State Police and National Security held in Abuja, where he reaffirmed his support for the creation of state police and his opposition to negotiating with bandits.
Recounting the traumatic experience, Lawal said his brothers spent nearly three months in captivity after they were abducted, but he stood by his decision not to meet the kidnappers’ demand.
“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,” the governor said.
According to Lawal, his brothers were eventually released without any ransom being paid.
He maintained that paying ransom only incentivises criminal groups to continue kidnapping innocent Nigerians for financial gain.
“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.
The governor stressed that his position remains unchanged, declaring that he would never negotiate with or pay ransom to criminals under any circumstance.
“I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens,” Lawal stated.
Speaking on Nigeria’s security architecture, Lawal renewed his call for the establishment of state police, arguing that governors currently bear responsibility for security without having the constitutional authority to direct security agencies operating within their states.
“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.
He added that he is willing to fund a state police system if established, expressing confidence that decentralised policing would strengthen intelligence gathering, improve response times, and enhance efforts to combat insecurity across the country.
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