Why Omoyele Sowore Is Their Target And Not Bandits, By Buhari Olanrewaju Ahmed 

Last week, the Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, publicly stated that through his mobile phone, he is able to identify and even monitor bandits operating in his state.

This bold admission, which should ordinarily have generated immediate security action, has not attracted any significant response from the Department of State Services (DSS).

However, despite the governor’s open declaration that he has access to information that could aid in tackling armed criminals responsible for mass killings, kidnappings, and widespread terror, the DSS has neither confronted him on the matter nor followed up to neutralise these groups that clearly pose a serious threat to national security.

In stark contrast, Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and journalist, who neither carries guns nor commands militias, is being treated as though he were the greatest danger to Nigeria.

His only weapons are his voice, his activism, and his social media platforms, which he consistently uses to challenge what he describes as a corrupt and dysfunctional system. Through peaceful advocacy, public mobilisation, and unrelenting criticism of misgovernance, he has become a target of relentless surveillance and harassment.

The imbalance in priorities is glaring: bandits who destabilise communities with violence are ignored, while a lone activist demanding accountability is pursued with state resources.

The DSS, as an institution that prides itself on intelligence gathering and safeguarding national interests, should know better. If truly guided by its mandate, it should recognise that Sowore does not constitute a threat to the country’s security or survival.

Instead, the real threats are the heavily armed criminals who displace thousands, cripple local economies, and continuously challenge the authority of the Nigerian state.

The agency’s refusal to act in that direction raises questions about its independence and reveals the extent of political interference in its operations. Its actions and inactions betray a pattern: targeting critics of government while turning a blind eye to existential dangers.

This fruitless attempt to silence Sowore is doomed from the start.

History shows that voices of dissent, especially those rooted in justice and truth, are difficult to suppress permanently.

The more the system tries to clamp down on him, the more it amplifies his message and exposes the contradictions of governance in Nigeria. A government secure in its legitimacy and confident in its institutions would not fear criticism; rather, it would confront insecurity head-on and allow dissent to thrive within democratic boundaries.

What the DSS ought to be doing is redirecting its resources to confront the armed groups destabilising Zamfara and other states across the federation.

The governor’s admission is a ready lead that could aid intelligence operations—why not seize it? Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money chasing after Sowore, journalists, and activists who pose no danger to national stability, the agency should prove its relevance by tracking, dismantling, and prosecuting the networks of terror that hold rural communities hostage.

Nigeria’s survival depends on institutions that serve the people rather than the interests of those in power.

The continued harassment of Sowore is a diversion from the real battles the country faces.

The DSS must rise above politics, reclaim its integrity, and confront the threats that genuinely endanger the nation.