Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has said he knows the locations of bandit leaders in the state but cannot act because he does not have control over security agencies.
In a video that surfaced on Thursday, the governor declared: “I swear to Almighty Allah, wherever a bandit leader is located in Zamfara State, I know it.
“With my phone, I can show you their locations today. But we cannot act because we don’t have the power.”
Lawal explained that although he is officially the state’s chief security officer, security operatives in Zamfara take directives from Abuja. He said if he had command authority, banditry would end within two months.
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The governor cited a recent incident in Shinkafi Local Government Area where an alert about an impending attack was ignored because operatives could not move without federal clearance.
He noted that his administration has continued to provide support by supplying logistics, assembling Community Protection Guards, recruiting more than 2,000 volunteer hunters from other states, and distributing 150 patrol vehicles to security agencies.