A civil society organisation, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria (CCN), has petitioned the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, demanding a travel ban on Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State.
In the petition dated September 16, 2025, and signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Agabi, CCN accused Governor Lawal of failing to act despite publicly claiming to have intelligence on the whereabouts and activities of bandits.
The group alleged that his inaction amounted to complicity and rendered him unfit to continue in office.
CCN therefore urged the US and UK governments to impose sanctions on the governor, including declaring him persona non grata and freezing all assets allegedly linked to him within their jurisdictions.
It also called on the European Union and the Commonwealth to adopt similar measures, stressing that democratic societies must not “harbour leaders known to collude, or have affiliation, with terrorists.”
Quoting directly from the petition, the group said, “If Governor Lawal has an iota of shame and is truly powerless as he claims, then honour should have compelled him to resign. Of what relevance is a leader whose performance is defined by absolute incompetence?”
It added that failure by the international community to act would send a message that Nigerian lives are expendable.
The CSO described Lawal’s own public statements about knowing the bandits and their locations as “an open admittance of guilt” and “a crime against humanity.”
“The case against Governor Dauda Lawal is not fabricated by adversaries, nor circumstantial. This is his own voice, his loud confession, and his own testimony to Nigerians,” the petition read in part.
The group insisted that imposing sanctions would not amount to interference in Nigeria’s sovereignty but rather reflect the sovereign right of other nations to determine who is welcome within their borders.
