Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has said that he refused to pay a N300 million ransom when his brothers were kidnapped in 2019. He recently had his say while speaking at the ARISE News and THISDAY Townhall Conference in Abuja, and Nigerians have been reacting.
Insisting that negotiating with criminals only encourages more abductions, Gov. Lawal revealed that he took a hard stance against the kidnappers despite the personal cost.
The Governor added that the kidnappers eventually released his brothers after three months in captivity without receiving any ransom payment.
His words, “My own brothers were kidnapped in 2019, and these criminals were demanding at the time about 300 million. And I said, look, I’m not going to pay a dime. If you like, go and kill them.
By the time we continue to pay ransom to these people, we are encouraging them to be kidnapping people more and more.
I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens.
In as much as I was called or I’m being called the chief security officer of the states, however, I don’t have the command and control structure to determine what happens or give instructions to some of these security officers,.
Why is it difficult for people to understand that my primary responsibility is the protection of lives and property, and I don’t have that control? How do you hold me accountable?
We bought drones, both surveillance drones and attack drones, to be able to aid the security forces in terms of fighting these criminals in their respective areas.”
