Just when Nigerians were beginning to thinkthat the forces of terrorism and banditry in the North were flagging, given the renewed onslaught of Nigerian troops on them, reports emerged last week that fresh threats were coming from a new variant of the security scourge. The new terror group identified as the Lukarawa, has slowly penetrated the North-West over the last few years, and is now exercising authority over swathes of areas in Sokoto and Kebbi states. Though the military has declared that the growing menace would soon be routed, observers consider the emergence of another terror group at this time as considerably disturbing.
Defence Headquarters (DHQ) confirmed the emergence of the Lukarawa recently when the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, spoke with journalists on the operations of the military in Abuja on Thursday, last week. Buba said the new terror group came from the Republic of Niger after the coup that led to the breakdown of military cooperation between Nigeria and Niger.
According to him, they infiltrated northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi states from the Niger Republic and Mali in the absence of the joint border operations of Nigerien troops andNigerian forces which hitherto kept the terrorists away.
“The terrorists took advantage of the gaps in cooperation between both countries and exploited difficult terrains to make incursions in remote areas in some North-western states to spread their ideology,” he said.
Buba said the group was accommodated by the locals who initially thought that the group meant well for them, adding that they failed to report the movement to the military and security agencies. But he disclosed that troops had sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to degrade the terrorists, pointing out that the group had continued to take advantage of the vast under-governed areas to hide and evade troops as well as harass the locals, assuring that troops were locating them and eliminating the threat.
DISGUISED AS PROTECTORS
Despite the significant presence of the Lukarawa in the North-West, not much was known about it probably until residents and officials of government in Sokoto State reported how the scourge was making life unbearable for them. While confirming the reports, the military said the development was compounding the security challenges in the North West.
A resident of Sokoto, Malam Muhammadu Bauni, said although they (Lakurawa) claimed they were protecting their communities against banditry, they were making life difficult for the people because they were imposing strange laws on them.
“They claim they are protecting us against bandits and at the same time imposing certain religious laws on our communities. Recently, they beat some of our youths for shaving their beards. The same treatment is meted to those with hairstyles or who listen to music. We are all Muslims; we are not against Shari’ah law, but there can’t be a government within a government. And the way they are imposing the law is unacceptable because there is no Shari’ah law that stipulates severe punishment for shaving beards or listening to music.
“The worst part of it is that they have been indoctrinating the locals, but they are not killing or kidnapping our people for ransom. They are only after government agents. In the last six days, they have abducted a health officialworking in our primary health centre and nothing has been heard about him since then. Most of the high-profile attacks on security operatives in those areas are being carried out by them.
“If they see a new face in our community they would take him to their camp and interrogate him, and if they find out that he is a government official, that is the end of him. If he is not, they would bring him back. It is the same thing for our locals – any person who stays away for some days, they will pick him up upon return and interrogate him before discharging him. This is how we are living,” he said.
According to him, the matter had been reported to the appropriate authorities, but nothing had been done about it.
“There was a time soldiers raided our community and killed two of them, but they haven’t come back since then. And we can’t fight them because they are in large numbers and have sophisticated weapons,” he added.
Another resident said the group was heavily armed and often communicated with locals in multiple languages, including Hausa, Fulani, Tuareg, Kanuri, Tuba and English.
He added that after their preaching sessions, they would translate their messages into these languages to ensure that all members of the local communities understood their doctrines.
“They arrive in large numbers, often coming on 10 to 15 motorcycles, and leave some members behind as they move to other towns,” he added.
The group also collects religious taxes, known as zakat. According to the source, if individuals refuse to pay, the group confiscates their animals, only returning them after the payment is made.
Another resident confirmed that out of the five local government areas where they abound in Sokoto State, the group has significant influence in two of them.
“In Gudu Local Government Area, for example, they have presence everywhere even outside the local government headquarters – here is no place where they do not move about freely,” he said.
UNVEILING THE MONSTER
It was similarly revealed by the Chairman of Tangaza Local Government Area, Alhaji Isa Salihu Kalenjeni, that members of the group were offering their youths the sum of N1 million each to join their campaign against the government.
Kalenjeni said members of the group had been preaching and imposing Shari’ah law in the villages. “They are forcing people to pay zakat, and at the same time robbing them of their belongings. Just recently, they robbed a shop owner of N2 million. They also seized his car and released it after he paid N350,000,” he said.
Recently, while receiving participants of Course 33 of the National Defence College, Abuja, who were on a study tour in the state, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Idris Gobir, disclosed that an assessment carried out indicated that the group possessed sophisticated weapons and thattheir criminal activities were observed in five local government areas in the state, noting thatas the threat was growing, security agents were working assiduously to address it.
THE SAHELIAN CONNECTION
Othe details which have emerged concerning the Lukarawa indicated that it is a dreaded cross border armed group now camping at Tsauni forest, which cuts across five local government areas in Sokoto State and stretches up to Niger Republic. They are also said to be in parts of Kebbi State.
Members of the group, are reported to be part of rebellious groups from different tribes in Libya, Mali and Niger Republic from where theymigrated to Nigeria.
They are believed to share the same ideology with Boko Haram terrorists and are said to be behind most of the deadly attacks on security operatives in those areas, the latest of which was the killing of four soldiers on routine patrol along the Gudu-Balle Road.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede, visited the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army in Sokoto the previous Sunday as part of efforts to combat the Lukarawa. He ordered the troops to crush the new terror group which was reportedly inducing youths in the state into its fold.
Speaking with newsmen in the Masallaci community in the Tangaza Local Government Area, Oluyede called on the residents of the community to always give accurate and timely information to the troops to help them in the fight against insecurity.
His words: “I am here to assess my troops. You see, there will always be challenges. The issue is how we react to these challenges. One of the reasons I am here is to charge up my soldiers to rise to the challenge, and that we shall do. My charge to the community people is for them to support us. If we don’t get their support we can’t succeed. And if we don’t succeed that means the country won’t be secured. We need the support of Nigerians so that we can have economic prosperity in the country.”
He added: “I am here to see my soldiers to assess their state of readiness and to charge them to continue to do what they have been doing best to secure the country in general.”
And, in a move to dislodge the terrorists, the Nigerian Army has deployed troops of ‘Operation Fasan Yamma’ in Sokoto and Kebbi states. A military source in the 8 Divisionexplained that a signal from the headquarters had been received directing the troops to mobilise to the troubled area for clearance operations.
The source said the leadership of the military was working to ensure every part of the northwest was safe just as a source in Tangaza LGA confirmed that the terror group had been in the area for over six years.
A former caretaker Chairman of Tangaza Local Council, Maidamma Yari, had reportedly dismissed the group’s terrorist activities while admitting that some persons who arrived at the council from Niger Republic had helped push back the bandits operating in the area.
“Some strange persons from the Niger Republic arrived at the local government a few weeks ago and their coming has helped in pushing back kidnappers who attempted to come into the local government from Zamfara State,’’ he had said.
A resident of Tangaza, Usman Alfadari, revealed that the terror group had been operating in the area for over six years. “For over two years now, if they entered the bush and met anyone rearing cattle, they would demand to see the owner of the cattle, and ask if the person is a cattle rustler or owner. They would then demand tax or zakat.
“Also, if they come to the mosque in any town, if the imam displeased them, they would bring him out and flog him. Even during the Juma’at prayers, if they go to a Mosque and realized the Imam did not commence the Friday sermon on time, they would flog him and thereafter direct him to carry out the sermon and prayer.
“Before now, they made their camp far away from the town but recently, they have started getting closer to the main town. In fact, the camp is just about 6km away from Gidan Madi here in Tangaza. They are also in Binji, Silame, Gudu local governments. They are more present in Gudu local government than any other place; they attacked and killed four soldiers there sometime ago. They even went away with a security vehicle one time after dislodging them.
“They also came to Gongoro village in Tangaza LGA where they launched an attack, but thank God for the people of the community who engaged them and, in the process, killed four of them.”
Mahmud Tangaza, another resident, said: “They are in Tangaza, Gudu, Binji, Silame and part of Gwadabawa Local Government Area. They never left the environment since around 2018 when they first came but it’s unfortunate that this is the first time the government is taking them seriously. They impose tax, especially on cattle, and enact laws in accordance with their beliefs and nobody dare argue with them.”
In a post on X on Saturday, Makama said the financial inducement was part of the group’s strategy to entice the youths to join them.
He said: “The new suspected extremist group, identified as “Lakurawa,” is offering as much as one million naira to young men in exchange for their allegiance. Impeccable sources told Zagazola Makama that this group, allegedly composed of individuals from Mali, Chad, Libya, Niger, and Burkina Faso are actively recruiting local youths in Sokoto through substantial financial incentives.
“This financial lure, according to witnesses, is part of an aggressive recruitment campaign aimed at attracting followers to their cause.Unlike traditional criminal gangs, the Lakurawa are reported to adhere to extremist ideologies linked to the Khawarij sect, similar to the beliefs of Boko Haram.
“Local sources suggest that they employ a combination of financial incentives and ideological influence to gain support among vulnerable communities.”
RALLYING FOR HELP
Stung into action by the activities of the group, the Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, sent a powerful delegation to complain to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.
The governor, who expressed dismay over the group’s attack which resulted in the death of 15 persons, sympathized with the family of the victims, the people of Augie, Argungu Emirate,and the state at large.
He promised the readiness of his administration to continue to partner with the Nigerian Army and other security agencies towards protecting the lives and property of the people of the state.
The delegation was led by the former Governor of Kebbi State and Minister of Economic Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu in the company of Sen. Bala Ibn Na’Allah, the Aall Progressives Congress National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Suleiman Argungu and a former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of the state, Nasiru Junju.
The minister told the CDS that the visit was intimate him about the need for immediate action to bring an end to the security challenge facing Kebbi State and the country at large.
Worried by the activities of the Lukarawa, the Arewa Consultative Forum has admonished the government to take immediate and decisive action against the group. The ACF considers the emergence of Lakurawa as very dangerous and alarming, the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, said in a statement in Kaduna on Sunday.
According to the ACF, the emergence of the Lakurawa brings into sharp focus the need for a comprehensive and thorough reappraisal of Nigeria’s national security strategies and tactics.
Part of the statement read: “Lakurawa, at this incipient stage of its emergence, must not be tolerated or allowed to entrench itself in our communities through benign neglect and/or kid-glove treatment as was the case with Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder clashes and banditry in the Northeast, Northcentral and Northwest areas, respectively.
“This is the moment for our security agencies to move fast, and urgently too, to subjugate and decapitate the Lakurawa terror gang with all the human and material arsenals at their disposal, without hesitation. We must leave no one in doubt about the national resolve to deal decisively with any threats to Nigeria’s peace and stability,”
The Northern body also called on the authorities to “enhance intelligence gathering, processing, and utilization to track and disrupt Lakurawa’s activities, engage local traditional and religious leaders, hunters, vigilante outfits, and community influentials in security operations.”
The ACF urged the military to “Revitalise and reinforce the Multi-National Joint Task Force arrangement with neighbouring countries, particularly Niger Republic, and train citizens in early warning and response strategies and mobilize communities to support national security agencies.”
The determination of the military and other stakeholders to erase the Lakurawa before it becomes, like Boko Haram, intractable appears to have given some cause for optimism as Nigerians look forward to a reinvigorated confrontation against all forms of terrorism and banditry beyond the North to other parts of Nigeria.
