The Zamfara State Government has called for stronger, coordinated security measures across the North-West, warning that the armed groups operating in Zamfara are the same networks terrorising neighbouring states including Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger.
Governor Dauda Lawal, in a statement on Wednesday, stressed the urgent need to fortify boarding schools, protect agricultural zones to prevent looming food shortages, secure inter-state highways, and build resilience in rural communities vulnerable to infiltration.
He also identified illegal mining as a major source of funding for armed groups and urged a unified regulatory approach involving state and federal authorities to curb the activity.
According to him, comprehensive mining governance reforms are essential to cutting off the financial lifelines of criminal networks.
The governor said Zamfara has continued to provide extensive support to security agencies through logistics, fuel, operational assistance, equipment maintenance, community-based intelligence networks and humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons. He added that the State Security Council has been strengthened to improve coordination and response.
“Zamfara stands today not as a symbol of failure, but as the epicentre of a national challenge that demands honesty, courage and collective resolve,” he said. “The enemies destabilising Zamfara are the same enemies threatening the North, and by extension, Nigeria.”
Zamfara not a failed state but epicentre of national threat — Gov Lawal
