By Daily Post
The heat on Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has intensified as a civil society organisation, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria (CCN), has petitioned the governments of the United States and United Kingdom, demanding a travel ban and asset freeze against him over what it described as his “glaring failure to end terrorism and banditry in the state.”
In the strongly worded petition, dated September 16, 2025 and signed by Dr. Emmanuel Agabi, Executive Secretary of CCN, the group accused Governor Lawal of openly admitting to having intelligence on the locations and networks of bandits ravaging Zamfara but doing nothing to halt the unending bloodshed.
The organisation argued that his inaction amounted to complicity, insisting that such negligence renders him unfit to continue as governor.
> “If Governor Lawal has an iota of shame and truly feels powerless as he claims, honor should have compelled him to resign. Of what relevance is a leader whose performance is defined by absolute incompetence?” the petition read.
The CCN urged Washington and London to move beyond symbolic actions and declare Governor Lawal persona non grata, banning him from entering their territories and freezing all assets linked to him and his associates within their jurisdictions.
The petition warned that failure to sanction the Zamfara governor would send a dangerous message to the world—that Nigerian lives are “cheaper and negotiable.”
It further called on the European Union and the Commonwealth to replicate the sanctions, stressing that democracies must not harbor leaders perceived to be colluding with or turning a blind eye to terrorists.
The CSO described Governor Lawal’s stance as an “open admittance of guilt” and a “crime against humanity,” pointing to his own public statements acknowledging knowledge of the bandits’ whereabouts.
> “He knows where the bandits are. He knows their leaders. He knows their families. He can locate them with his phone. Yet, he refused to act while lives keep wasting. This is complicity defined. This is absurdity from a supposed leader,” CCN declared.
CCN urged the Biden administration, the UK government, and global partners to act decisively, insisting that silence in the matter would amount to complicity and betrayal of democratic values.
> “For the widows of Zamfara, for the orphans languishing in refugee camps, for the moral integrity of the United States, and for the honor of democracy, we urge you to act. Let Dauda Lawal be declared persona non grata. Let the free world shut its doors on him. Let his name stand as a warning and a lesson to others,” the petition concluded.
The petition has already sparked intense debate in political and civil society circles, with many watching keenly to see how the international community will respond to this latest call for sanctions against a sitting Nigerian governor.
PIONEER NEWS 