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Lakurawa

Nigerian security analysts voiced concerns after defense officials on 07 November 2024 warned of a new insurgent group known as the Lakurawas [which loosely means "the recruits"], operating mainly in the country's northwestern region. Authorities said the group originated from the Sahel region, particularly Mali and Niger, after the July 2023 coup in Niger disrupted joint military patrols along the Nigerian border. The military high command said that no fewer than nine terrorists’ commanders wrecking havocs in the Northeast region were wanted, adding that no matter how hard they tried, the terrorists would be neutralised within shortest possible time.

Nigerian defense officials announced the group to journalists in Abuja and called for heightened vigilance. Major General Edward Buba, the defense spokesperson, did not provide details on whether the group had carried out any major attack, but local media report the group has been collecting cows from locals in exchange for "protection." The tactic is commonly used by extremist groups to exert control and finance their operations.

The Nigerian Police Force, Sokoto State Command, confirmed the presence of an armed Islamic group called “Lakurawas” in about five local government areas of the state. The group, armed with sophisticated weapons, had been operating in Tangaza, Gudu, Ilela, Silame and Binji local government areas to impose its beliefs on the populace. The Chairman, Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State, Alhaji Isa Salihu Kalenjeni raised the alarm over a foreign based armed religious group occupying a forest across five LGAs of the state.

Kalenjeni said that members of the group had been preaching and imposing some laws in the neighboring villages. “They are forcing people to pay Zakkat and at the same time robbing people 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,” the chairman said. He added that the armed group, who claimed to be fighting Nigerian government, had also robbed four motorcycles in Balle, the headquarters of Gudu LGA. Kalenjeni said the bandits, who had been terrorising locals, had joined forces with the group. “They usually come to our communities during the day and go back to the forest in the night. They also have drones which they use in monitoring the movement of security operatives,” he said.

The Lakurawa Islamist group originated from Mali and came into the Niger-Nigeria border communities in Sokoto State. Around 2017, the Lakurawa established a base at Gudu and Tangaza Local Government Areas, just about 60 miles away from Sokoto town, the head-quarters of Sokoto state in northern Nigeria. The new Islamic sect started with less than 50 indigenous youth in 2017, but by 2023 this number increased to over 200, mainly young boys within the ages of 18–35, not least by providing stipends to young members.

Lakurawas infiltrated northwest Sokoto and Kebbi states from neighboring Niger and Mali following the 2023 coup, which severed ties between Nigeria and Niger and disrupted joint regional security patrols. Buba said security forces are tracking the group's activities. "It is, indeed, the first attempt of the Sahelian jihadists to have a foothold in our country. They were kept at bay all this while, when we had joint cross-border operations with the Republic of Niger. They took advantage of the breakdown in cooperation between both countries, which has now been restored. We know exactly where they are," Buba said.

The headquarters of Sokoto state, Sokoto town, was founded by Sultan Muhammad Bello as a result of a Jihad that swept most parts of the present northern Nigeria and beyond in the nineteenth century. The Jihad was an Islamic movement that created an ideal Islamic state under the Caliphate system in 1804. The occupation and presence of Lakurawa in this area is linked to its historical signi?cance in Islamic revolution-ary movements. Gudu and its neighbours (Tangaza) were associated with major developments of the Sokoto Jihad; the election of its leaders, the writ-ing of the manifesto of Jihad, the intellectual reawakening, and the quest for acquiring arms for self-defence all took place in the area. Most parts of Sokoto State have, in recent years, been ravaged by armed banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping, and terrorism.

The precise ideology of the new Jihadist group is not yet known. Lakurawa may simply reflect violent banditry appealing to radicalism and extremism, with the goal of situating and internationalising through escalating and nurturing its connections to Islamic extremist groups such as Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Ansaru. But some argues that beyond this misappropriation and exploitation of extremism and radicalisation, the armed banditry has no link to Islam.

Members embrace heterodox practices and esoteric interpretations of the Holy Qur’an. They also emphasize their purity and refuse contact with the rest of the society. The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has said that the new terrorist group popularly known as Lakurawa is affiliated with the Islamic State of West Africa (ISIS). Part of their agenda is to impose their own kind of religious practice on the people. Their demand is that they want the full implementation of Sharia Law in the whole of Nigeria by all means.

The Lakurawa, according to the Magaji of Balle, originally “are herdsmen, light skinned, speaking Arabic and Fulfulde languages from Mali, invited to provide security to our communities.” They even attack suspected bandits in the area as they claim to be working against illegalities. The heavily armed Islamic preachers, many of whom are believed to be foreigners, set up bases in the affected local government areas, moving from community to community and preaching against western civilization and democratic system of government, similar to the ideology of Boko Haram terrorists.

The Zamfarawa bandits started operations in Tangaza and Gudu border communities around 2016/2017. These areas are about 150 miles away from Zamfara State, and about 80 miles from eastern Sokoto State, that shares a close border with Zamfara. Like most parts of Zamfara State, the bandits also rav-aged eastern Sokoto communities, around Isa, Sabon Birni, Rabah, Goronyo, and Illela Local Government Areas. It was this close-border relation, accord-ing to the Magaji of Balle, “that led to different bandit gangs, camps, and nefarious operations in eastern parts of Sokoto State”. It was within this desperate situation that Lakurawa were invited. The activities of Lakurawa in these communities were simply an importation of troubles in the name of security. When the Lakurawa came, they were quite effec-tive at pushing out the Zamfarawa bandits. However, they also strategically took over control of the communities they operated in, with attendant con-sequences of imposing their “extremists’ ideology”, violent extremism, and fundamentalism.

The followers of the sect have similar pattern of religious separatism with any other radical Islamic movement in West Africa. They also used small arms in intimidating and harassing the locals in the name of implementation of the sharia law in the affected Local Government Areas. The new sect often conducts preaching sessions and forces natives to listen. Since the rise of this gang, the Sokoto State Government, in collaboration with the Sokoto Sultanate Council (the main Islamic and traditional body in the area) and other security agencies, made concerted efforts to stop the growing in?uence of the group.

"They imposed strict Islamic laws, luring young people into the fold with business capital. They also collect taxes and levies. During sermons, they'll tell us they don't recognize the Nigerian government and its security forces," a resident of the area said. The traditional rulers initially helped bring the Lakurawa to their communities for protection, but then responded to their rise in prominence through preaching against the youth recruitment and providing information to security agencies about the activities of the group.

Its emergence signalled a growing threat in northwest Nigeria, already challenged by attacks by armed gangs and kidnappings for ransom. Nigeria has been struggling with prolonged insurgency by Boko Haram — a group opposed to western education in northern Nigeria. In October, Nigeria’s military said it killed some 160 insurgents, arrested more than 80 and freed scores of captives.

Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said he is worried but not surprised by news of the new group, given that regional bloc ECOWAS, chaired by Nigeria's president, sanctioned Niger after the coup last year. "We saw this coming when the Niger coup happened, especially withdrawal from ECOWAS membership,” Iroegbu said. “Severing ties with ECOWAS does not mean that we should not have bilateral agreements intact. Even if we sever the relationship in other [levels] ... maybe at the diplomatic level, but at the security or intelligence level [it] should not be something that we should play with."

Iroegbu said the group’s emergence is going to have a negative impact on Nigeria's security. "We should not downplay the significance of this thing. It's going to drain the scarce resources we have already. All the security, bilateral agreement, intelligence corporation, security corporation should be strengthened even more," Iroegbu said.

In August, Nigeria's chief of defense staff visited Niger in a bid to strengthen military ties and regional security. Buba said authorities and security forces are working to address the issue and protect citizens from the Lakurawas group. The threat emerged in Northwestern Nigeria exploiting security gaps created by the recent military coup in neighboring Niger led to the establishment of a junta which disrupted military cooperation with Nigeria and enjoined border security operations. Prior to the coup, joint border operations with Nigerien security forces kept the terrorists away. The terrorists began infiltrating northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi states from Niger Republic and Mali.

The Nigerians of the future are children without hope. Many children have no job, they have no skill, no apprenticeship of any kind. And all these people become adults without any job, without education and without hope, so they become an easy recruitment for the terrorist groups. There used to be a time when the Nigerian military was up to par. It stood in the gap against insurgents like this in other countries. The Nigerian military was highly praised around the world but more recently the Nigerian military were killed in large numbers and they had to leave the entire Community for insurgents to take over. The current Nigerian military may not have the technical knowhow can kinetic and non-kinetic dexterity to govern and safeguard Nigeria. Fedeal troops have sustained intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) efforts to weaken the terrorists.

Lakurawas were initially welcomed by locals who misunderstood their intentions. When they arrived, the locals recognised that they had strangers in their midst. Upon recognising this, the proper course of action would have been to alert the authorities. The locals failed to inform military and security agencies of the terrorists’ movements.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has declared nine suspected members of the Lakurawas terrorist group wanted. Edward Buba, director of defence media operations, disclosed this while speaking to journalists in Abuja on 07 November 2024. They are Abu Khadijah, Abdurrahman, Dadi Gumba a.k.a Abu Muhammed, Usman Shehu, Abu Yusuf, Musa Wa’a, Ibrahim Suyeka, Ba Sulhu and Idris Taklakse.

Buba stressed “They embraced them, thinking that they would protect them from terrorists or other threats, allowing them to settle in and spread their ideology. Having settled in and gained a foothold, they started imposing levies on the people. It was only at that point that the locals felt the need to notify us.That is not the time to notify. You should report immediately when you see something strange. Winning this war without the support of the people is impossible. They came in the same way as Boko Haram. They tell the men to grow long beards, the women to wear hijabs, and impose other such practices. They are easy to spot because of these traits. I continue to urge Nigerians to help us to help you. Now that we know where they are, we are finding them and flushing them out.”

They have since taken advantage of Nigeria's vast under-governed rural areas to hide and evade Security Forces carrying out attacks on communities and travelers. These actions echo those of all other Terror groups commonly known as bandits in the region which engage in violent kidnappings and ransom demands. They have changed their approach recently. They are using drones from Turkey and they have some from China. They have combined all of this together and they've also gone ahead creating volunteer forces in the neighboring area.

Clearly, there is a big gap in the architecture of governance and security in Sokoto state and Nigeria generally. The presence of Lakurawa and even the operations of their activities point clearly to the fundamental challenges of security governance. It shows the borders are porous, intelligence gathering is failing, and government presence is minimal.

The militant Lakurawa jihadists have been in the area since 1999. It was only when the jihadists elsewhere in Nigeria, and the Sahel region, started spreading their extremist ideological tentacles that the Lakurawa activities were noticed and began to attract national and international concern. As the Lakurawa grew out of the control of the traditional rulers and other patrons who had brought them for security reasons, these leaders then turned around and tried to contain the problem.