A northern advocacy group, the Northern Intelligentsia Network, has threatened to petition the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, over his alleged failure to curb killings, abductions, and destruction caused by bandits in the state.
The group also called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene, warning that the escalating insecurity in Zamfara poses a serious threat to regional stability.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the group’s President, Dr Aminu Shehu, accused Governor Lawal of complicity, claiming his inaction amounts to aiding and abetting the crisis.
“Governor Dauda Lawal has publicly admitted knowing the hideouts of these bandits, yet he appears reluctant to end the crisis by passing such intelligence to security agencies. Instead, he keeps making excuses about not having control over the police.
“At a time when communities are being ravaged, withholding such critical intelligence is not just negligence, it is complicity,” the statement read.
The group argued that the governor’s stance breaches both his constitutional duty to protect citizens and international humanitarian law.
Citing reports from Maradun, Anka, Shinkafi, and Tsafe LGAs, it highlighted incidents of women being raped, children mutilated, and entire villages burned, stressing that under the Rome Statute of the ICC, to which Nigeria is a signatory, systematic attacks on civilians qualify as crimes against humanity.
“These are not isolated incidents; they are targeted assaults on vulnerable populations. Article 7 of the Rome Statute makes clear that a leader who knowingly permits such sustained attacks shares responsibility for them,” Dr Shehu stated.
The group added that the governor’s public admissions amount to an abdication of responsibility, insisting that his silence has emboldened perpetrators and worsened the plight of Zamfara residents.
According to Shehu, Governor Lawal’s posture undermines the Geneva Conventions, which require state authorities to take feasible measures to safeguard civilians in armed conflict.
“Other states facing similar challenges have devised creative solutions, from empowering vigilante groups to improving intelligence-sharing. In Zamfara, however, the governor has chosen denial, blame-shifting, and silence,” he alleged.
The group disclosed that it is already assembling a team of Nigerian and international lawyers to file a petition at the ICC.
The petition will reportedly include victim testimonies, humanitarian reports, and evidence of Governor Lawal’s alleged refusal to act.
“Under the principle of command responsibility enshrined in the Rome Statute, leaders who enable or fail to prevent atrocities must be held accountable,” the statement noted.
Warning that international accountability is now inevitable, the group declared, “When leaders become part of the problem, when they normalise bloodshed through inaction, they must answer before international tribunals.
“Zamfara is fast becoming a killing field, and if urgent steps are not taken, this violence will spread across the North-West and beyond.”
The group concluded by calling on civil society, religious leaders, and the international community to rally behind victims of banditry in Zamfara.