The emergence of Lakurawa, a new terror group in the North-west, has compounded the state of insecurity caused by bandits that have been terrorising the zone. With the obvious failure of the police and other federal security agencies to stop this emerging internal security threat, Ejiofor Alike and Onuminya Innocent write that state governments should adopt community engagement to stop recruitment of locals into terror groups and also neutralise their fighters
With no end in sight in the war against Boko Haram, bandits and other terrorist groups, a new terrorist group called 'Lukarawa' has also emerged in the North-west geopolitical zone.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, who briefed journalists on the development in Abuja recently, explained that the new terror group emerged from the Republic of Niger after the military coup in that country had led to the breakdown of military cooperation between the Nigerian government and the new military leaders in that country.
"The new terrorists began incursion into northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi States from the Niger Republic and Mali axis, particularly after the coup in the Niger Republic. Before the coup, there were joint border operations with Nigerien security forces, which kept the terrorists at bay," Buba explained.
He alleged that the members of the terror group were being accommodated by the locals who had initially thought that the group meant well for them.
The revelation by the DHQ that the group emerged following the breakdown of military cooperation between the Nigerian government and the new military leaders in Niger Republic showed that the Nigerian government prioritised the ECOWAS agreement more than the country's security.
Nigeria, with her numerous security threats and porous borders should have considered her safety, security and national interest before signing any resolutions with the other member-countries of ECOWAS to cut military ties with the Niger Republic.
Today, as Boko Haram and bandits are ravaging the land, a new terror group has also emerged.
In the North-west, only Kano and Jigawa states are safe and secure, while the other five states - Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto Zamfara and Kebbi - have been ravaged by bandits and kidnappers who are contantly killing, raping women, destroying farmlands, levying the poor and abducting them for ransom.
Apart from the breakdown of military ties between Nigeria and Niger Republic, intelligence failure on the part of the police and other security agencies due to the politicisation of security, corruption, tribalism and nepotism, which characterised the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari also facilitated the emergence of the new group.
Former President Buhari's administration was accused of encouraging the influx of violent herders into the country.
According to a study conducted in 2021 by a historian with expertise in regional terrorism, Mr. Murtala Rufa'i, which was cited by The Premium Times, the Lakurawa group was initially invited by local leaders in Gudu and Tangaza LGAs of Sokoto State in 2017 to address the growing threats by bandits from Zamfara State.
However, when the news broke in 2018 that the group was actually a terror group masquerading as herdsmen, the Sokoto State Police Command, in a bid to please Buhari's administration, debunked the news, claiming that they were non-violent herders who "came to the area largely owing to availability of water for their animals."
The Lakurawa group later killed the son of the district head of Tangaza, one of the traditional rulers who invited them, claiming that he was in possession of their N63 million.
The group also killed the district head in his palace after the monarch disputed their claim.
Shortly after their arrival at the Gongono Forest in Tangaza LGA of Sokoto State, the jihadists mainly from Algeria, Mali, Libya and Niger Republic, established what seems like a colony with strict adherence to Islamic ideologies.
The activities of the group in Sokoto East senatorial district, which has been the epicentre of banditry, has compounded the security challenges in North-west.
Some residents of the zone attributed the unabating security challenges in the zone to lack of cooperation among the traditional leaders and political elites.
Residents explained that traditional and political leaders must work with the local communities to deny the new terror group the opportunity for the recruitment of the locals.
The senator representing Sokoto East senatorial district, on the platform of the APC, Ibrahim Lamido had accused Governor Ahmed Aliyu of not doing enough to tackle the security challenges in the state.
Many residents of the state have also cited the cold war between the governor and the Sultan of Sokoto as one of the factors hampering the fight against insecurity.
They argued that the Sultan is not being carried along by the governor to enable him offer useful advice as a retired military general.
Meanwhile, Lakurawa group is capitalising on the poverty in the state to lure innocent youths into their fold.
While they offer N1 million to each person to join the group, residents collect as low as N10,000 to serve as informants to the group.
With the obvious failure of the federal security agencies to tackle these security threats, community engagement should be adopted by the state governors.
Reacting to the new security threat, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Mohammed Baba, had recommended the re-establishment of security and defence joint cooperation with Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries.
ACF also stressed that communities should be mobilised to cooperate with and support the national security agencies.
According to the ACF, the visit to Niger Republic earlier in the year by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, should be utilised as a fulcrum for renewed cross-border international efforts to deal with terrorists.
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It also called for the "involvement of local, traditional, and religious leaders, persons of influence, hunters, vigilance outfits and other community influentials to form vanguards of support for security operations; training of citizens of border and other communities in early warning and early response strategies to complement the efforts of national security agencies."
A Kebbi State delegation dispatched by Governor Nasir Idris last week met with CDS, General Musa, pleading with him to flush out the group from the state.
During an operational tour to Sokoto State, the acting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, told residents of Gongono Masallachi that their community's support was crucial to the protection of Nigeria's territory.
Also reacting, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, last Wednesday promised that the group would be flushed out of Nigeria.
Following the recent attack by the group on the Mera community in Augie LGA of Kebbi State, which claimed 17 lives, the army headquarters had deployed a contingent of soldiers to the area.
The question agitating the minds of the residents of the North-west is: Will they live with the new terror group just as the residents of the North-east are living with Boko Haram?
The security situation in the North-west in the next few weeks will prove the effectiveness of all these military efforts.
