Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has been strongly criticised and accused of making a “shameful U-turn” in his handling of the state’s prolonged banditry crisis.
In a statement issued on Friday in Gusau and signed by Dr. Sulaiman Ali Mustapha, the national president of Northern Security and Integrity Forum (NSIF), the forum said Lawal’s recent decision to engage with known armed groups is a clear endorsement of the same strategy he previously condemned — one championed by his predecessor, Bello Matawalle.
“Governor Dauda Lawal has now become the living embodiment of the phrase: ‘politics over lives.’ For years, he demonised former Governor Bello Matawalle’s approach to banditry, portraying it as weak, immoral, and counterproductive,” the statement said.
“Yet today, after more than 20,000 civilians and over 500 security personnel have been killed according to Amnesty International and other credible conflict monitoring bodies, Dauda Lawal is now doing exactly what he once ridiculed — sitting down with the attackers and preaching dialogue.”
The group said recent peace meetings in Katsina and Zamfara, which featured appearances by notorious bandit leaders like Ado Aleru, were a “slap in the face” of victims of terrorism.
“These meetings are not acts of peace — they are acts of surrender. It shows Dauda Lawal is out of ideas, overwhelmed, and returning shamefully to a method he publicly mocked,” the forum stated.
“He owes the people of Zamfara and Nigeria a deep apology — not a press conference, not another meeting — but a national apology for misleading the public and jeopardising lives through his arrogance.”
The NSIF said the Lawal administration’s shift in strategy is a belated but telling validation of Matawalle’s policies.
The forum accused Governor Lawal of lacking a coherent security strategy and relying instead on “media optics” while banditry continues to worsen under his watch.
“Under Lawal, banditry has worsened, abductions have surged, and communities continue to be sacked while the government holds press briefings,” the statement read.
“Now that he is crawling back to the same ‘carrot-and-stick’ method he once discredited, we must ask: who is fooling who?”
The NSIF noted that the shift highlights a larger truth — that military force alone cannot end the insurgency in Zamfara.
“This is not about romanticising non-state actors or abandoning justice. It’s about acknowledging that absolute militarisation has failed, and that engaging with community-linked actors, alongside law enforcement, can create breathing room for real solutions,” he said.
The group urged civil society organisations, national security agencies, and media watchdogs to scrutinise the Lawal administration’s evolving approach to security, calling it inconsistent and lacking transparency.
“We urge the Nigerian people not to be deceived by the quiet repackaging of failed policies as ‘new thinking.’ What we are witnessing is not innovation — it is imitation, badly executed,” the statement added.
Naijaonpoint reports that the Governments of Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina State had come under attack over recent moves for peace with bandits terrorising the North-west region
Recall that the Katsina State Government denied claims that it is actively negotiating with bandits, clarifying that its only interest lies in reintegrating repentant criminals who willingly drop their arms and embrace peace.
Speaking at a press conference, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Mu’azu, stated unequivocally that the Dikko Radda-led administration had not and would not enter into direct negotiations with criminals.
“The position of the government is very clear from the beginning, Governor Dikko Radda has said the Katsina government will not negotiate with bandits,” Mu’azu declared.
He added, however, that any bandit willing to lay down arms would be given a chance to reintegrate and live as a law-abiding citizen.
“If the bandits feel the need to drop their arms and come forward, the government is ready to give them the opportunity to live like every normal citizen of Katsina State,” he said.
Also, in a statement on Friday, the Sokoto State Government defended its decision to engage with repentant bandits as part of its broader efforts to tackle insecurity in the state, insisting the move is strategic and not a sign of weakness.
The Special Adviser to Governor Ahmed Aliyu on Security, Col. Ahmed Usman (retd.), dismissed the backlash as unfounded and politically tinted.
According to the retired colonel, the government’s peace strategy is rooted in a dual approach, “the stick-and-carrot model”, which aligns with national military doctrines of kinetic and non-kinetic engagement.
“Let it be clear: the government is not negotiating out of weakness, nor are we compromising justice. What we are doing is embracing a pragmatic, human-centered approach,” he said.
Col. Usman further explained that Governor Aliyu’s administration is combining military deployment with reconciliation efforts to stabilise hard-hit communities in Rabah, Goronyo, Isa, Sabon Birni, and other local governments.
“Our people… are living with the daily trauma of displacement. Farmers have abandoned their fields, food production has dropped, and economic activities have come to a halt in many communities. This has direct consequences on food security and inflation across the state,” he noted.
The government said its outreach to willing bandits includes strict supervision and rehabilitation programmes, not blind forgiveness or blanket amnesty.
“We are opening the door to those who genuinely wish to surrender and reintegrate into society… This is not appeasement — this is strategic reconciliation for long-term peace and development,” Usman stated.