The Zamfara Youth Vanguard for Peace (ZYVP) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to set up a judicial commission of inquiry to probe Governor Dauda Lawal’s alleged support for terrorist activities in Zamfara State.
In a letter to the President and copied to the National Security Adviser and the Attorney General of the Federation, the group claimed Governor Lawal paid N1.378 billion to bandits and terrorists, contradicting claims of peacebuilding efforts.
According to the letter signed by its president, Comrade Bello Yakubu, the group also alleged Lawal ordered crackdowns on whistleblowers and has ties to convicted terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
The Zamfara Youth Vanguard for Peace cited Governor Lawal’s visit to the US and meeting with Abdulmutallab, his brother-in-law, as evidence of his terror links.
“As of July 2, 2024, the said Governor Lawal paid One Billion, Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight Million Naira (N1,378, 000,000) to bandits and terrorists in the area. This payment to the terrorists raised two issues,” Yakubu said.
“First, contrary to claims that the development was part of peacebuilding efforts, there has been an upsurge in terrorists’ activities on the axis, which has given us cause to believe that the bandits spent the funds for logistics and new weapons.
“Secondly, Governor Lawal has ordered an inhuman crackdown on the whistleblowers who used the questionable payments to expose his terrorist links. These whistleblowers are now being held incommunicado on Governor Lawal’s orders while they have been charged with forgery in the Governor’s bid to redirect attention from his crimes while creating the impression that the documents detailing the payments were forged.
“Going by his recent and ongoing itinerary, we have cause to believe that Governor Lawal and his bandits are plotting to internationalise the war they have been waging against the Nigerian state by attacking the country’s key allies in a bid to undermine your administration and present it as one that has lost grip of the security situation.
“As of the time we are writing this letter, Governor Lawal is visiting the United States and will stop over at the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX Florence or the Florence Supermax) in Florence, Colorado, south of Denver.
“ADX Florence is holding Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, “the underwear bomber”, who was on 16 February 2012 sentenced to 4 life terms plus 50 years without parole for the Christmas 2009 attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
“Governor Lawal is married to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s elder sister and is known as the one who radicalised and indoctrinated him into terrorism. His visit to the terror convict is not unrelated to his obsession with destabilising the Sahel using his position as a state governor, who enjoys immunity from arrest and prosecution under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“An additional layer to the terrorism-supporting activities of the Governor is the apprehension of his known associate, Bashir Hadejia by law enforcement agencies and is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
“Hadejia confessed to plotting to destabilise Nigeria and has started implementing this agenda through the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest that attempted to overthrow your government in the first week of August 2024. The
“Nigeria Police Force indicted Hadejia for treason, subversive activities against the Nigerian government, trans-border gun-running, heist and other transnational crimes. These were errands he has confessed he undertook at the behest of and on behalf of the Zamfara State Governor.”
They said a judicial commission of inquiry is important to expose Governor Lawal’s role in supporting terrorism and address the growing terror threat in the northwest region and ensuring the safety and well-being of Nigerians.
“We appeal to Mr President to urgently set up a judicial commission of inquiry into the activities of bandits in Nigeria to expose and document the role of the Zamfara State Governor,” Yakubu added.
“Where the inquiry establishes that he is a threat to society, he should be placed on a terror watch list. His other activities should be closely scrutinized to forestall his capacity to plot and execute further attacks against Nigeria.
“We believe that Mr Presidnt setting up this judicial commission of inquiry would be a first step to tearing down this terror threat to Nigeria from the northwest. We have done our bit for humanity by flagging the danger that the Governor poses to the human race in the Zamfra area and expect that the Federal Government will reciprocate by preventing this threat from growing.”