Boko Haram, bandits on the prowl: Inside Nigeria’s expanding slaughter house

By OBINNA EZUGWU

A country not officially at war, but the body count of Nigeria’s hydra-headed conflicts will make the more than half a decade long war in Yemen – widely considered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis at moment with 18,400 civilians dead – seem like child’s play with nearly 400,000 killed since 2009, nearly as many as the total number of deaths recorded in the Syrian war. Yet, it’s a worsening situation – with expanding frontiers – threatening to consume Africa’s most populous country.

At an average of 1000 deaths recorded monthly since the beginning of the year and many more kidnapped, 2021 has been a bloody year, especially in the Northwest states of Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and elsewhere in Niger, Benue in the North Central, the new frontier of terrorism in the country.

There has also been serious escalation in the Southeast amid violent attacks on security agencies by gunmen suspected to be sympathetic to the agitation for Biafra, and killing by security agents – who residents say, randomly open fire on people in Imo and Abia. Attacks and kidnapping by herdsmen has also been on the rise in the past few months.

Southeast, however, pales into insignificance when compared with numbers from Northeast, Northwest and central. The last decade had seen long periods of sustained butchering of hapless civilians by Northeast based Boko Haram, ranked in 2015, as the world’s deadliest terror group by the Global Terrorism Index, ahead of the Islamic State group (ISIS).

The terror group – hitherto factionalized between Abubakar Shekau led more radical Boko Haram sect and Abu Musab al-Barnawi led Islamic State of West Africa (ISWA), which targets mainly security agencies and government facilities – has since announced reunion after the death of Shekau in May.

“In a sign that ISWA has prevailed, of late killings of soldiers, police, and others associated with the state have continued while civilian deaths have declined,” observed John Campbell, former United States ambassador to Nigeria and fellow of Council on Foreign Relations.

“However, ISWA claims should not be taken at face value, and relations among jihadi factions remain murky, to say the least. What can be said is that they appear to control most of the roads and much of the countryside in the northeast, with government forces restricted to fortified encampments and large urban areas.”

Both Shekau’s Boko Haram and ISWA which broke away from it in 2016 after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), share similar broad objective of the destruction of the Nigerian state and the establishment of an Islamic theocracy, their so called caliphate. But a key point of departure was that the former had a broad view of what constituted apostasy in Islam.

Shekau’s group held that apostates included Muslims who submit to the authority of the Nigerian state and thus deserved to die. On the other hand, ISWA has a narrower view of what constitutes apostasy, limiting apostates to agents of the state, security agencies, and Christians. Since the group took over as the dominant faction in the region, there have been noticeable changes in approach.

They have been reported to give money and food to local communities in a bid to build goodwill, while targeting mainly security agencies and government facilities in attacks.

As at 2020, at least 350,000 people had been killed and according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The war has been sustained, allegedly in part, by profiteers in both the government and within the security circles.

Daily, scores are kidnapped in Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and elsewhere in violence that sources told BusinessHallmark, has become a huge racket; an all comers affair, involving professional snatcher, human traffickers, mercenaries, smugglers, arm dealers, among others who want to cut slices from an “industry” that now turns out millions of naira monthly.

Earlier in the month, a report by Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa programme, said there has been reported 5,800 deaths, while 2,943 people were kidnapped in the first half of 2021 in Nigeria, with Northwest accounting for most deaths with 1,976, the North East 1,424, the North Central, 1,090, South East had 574, the South-South had 406 and the South West, 330.
Since January, the number of people kidnapped has more than doubled.

The report said 1,344 persons were kidnapped in June, 474 in May, 406 in April, 605 in March, 709 in February and 405 in January, mostly in the Northwest.

Yet, in June alone, 1,031 persons were reported killed, while 390 others were abducted in 205 incidents recorded in 34 states across Nigeria with Zamfara, Kebbi, and Niger worst hit as a total of 275 persons were killed in Zamfara State, 93 in Kebbi State, and 91 in Niger, another report by Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence firm, said.

July has seen noticeable escalation. The bandits are more daring. On Friday, they killed three people and burnt military armoured vehicles in a 4-hour attack in Dansadau community in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara. More schools are being attacked and students kidnapped – hundreds remain in captivity – and security agents are unceasingly being targeted – 13 mobile policemen and two residents of Kurar Mota village in the Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara were killed by the bandits last week. Yet, they have demonstrated war capabilities by bringing down a Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet on Monday, a development that has rattled many.

Still, last week, the bandits raided a Police formation in Marraraban-Jos village in the outskirts of Kaduna in an attempt to free their detained men, killing a police officer in the process.

“The capacity of bandits in the North to threaten Aviation takes the war to a new level,” observed Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central senator.

“The Killing of 13 Policemen in Zamfara by bandits is another horrific and tragic act of cruelty. Until the law catches up with the notorious gang leaders like Karami, Turji and Dogo Gide, there will be no end in sight to these atrocities. This is where the nation’s might is needed.”

A military source disclosed to our correspondent that a gunnery sergeant colleague of his in the Nigerian Army was offered N5 million monthly to man a bandits’ group machine gun in Niger State. He said the bandits get hundreds of millions as ransom and can afford the services of unscrupulous security agents, which perhaps explains why there has been such befuddling laxity towards tackling the menace by security agents who have shown to be more aggressive elsewhere. There is however, more.

Locals in Kaduna, Taraba, Zamfara and several other states had on several occasions reported seeing helicopters dropping arms for the bandits. Yet, when one of the helicopters allegedly crashed in ‘Pangu Gari’, a town on the outskirts of Kagara town, in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger in May, as reported by many residents, the matter was quickly swept under the carpet and calls for proper investigation ignored.

Indeed, as terrorists run rampage, not a few observers have noted with dismay, the seeming unwillingness of the President Muhammadu Buhari government, which had demonstrated military might and strategy in the killing of several members of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast.

Buhari also did not relent until the eventual arrest of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu in Kenya. He also ordered an onslaught against Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, who was last week arrested in Benin Republic while trying to flee to Germany, days after his Ibadan, Oyo State home was invaded by the DSS in a brutal crack down that led to the killing of two of his aides.

Both the federal and state governments have continued to favour negotiating with the bandits. Katsina and Zamfara governments in particular have sunk millions of naira into amnesty deals with the outlaws, most of which have ended up being used to acquire more weapons. More recently, Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, have taken up the job of negotiating and making excuses for the bandits, whose hideouts are mostly known, but are rarely confronted with military might.

Few weeks ago, a notorious bandit in Zamfara identified as Dankarami, was shown in a viral video boasting in an interview with some individual alleged to be government officials, that he had killed many soldiers but could not be arrested.

“They brought in soldiers and took them to Dumburum. I allowed them. My house was under the road they passed. I let them. I relocated my wives and stayed alone with my boys. One evening, on the fourth day, on their way from Gusau, I dealt with them (soldiers),” he narrated in the video.

“They sent another team and I killed half of them. Another evening, they ambushed my brothers who were bringing me supplies and seized their motorcycles. They joined forces with Niger State. I dealt with them. I’m still here till tomorrow.

“No one can arrest me unless I let them. Whatever they (my boys) want to do, they won’t do until I say so. The other day, they went to Zurmi and kidnapped children, small children. I was sleeping at home; they said there were 40 people. I took them back. Since our parents pleaded with us to return the children, did we collect a single naira? Did anyone give us anything?”

Another notorious bandit, Turji, who, last week, unleashed several attacks on Zamfara following the arrest of his father, is still at large.

“The father of Turji, a kidnap kingpin, was arrested this week (last week). In retaliation, Turji unleashed terror on villages in Shinkafi LGA of Zamfara. He sacked over half a dozen villages on Friday killing many and abducting 150,” narrated Mr. Bulama Bukarti, senior analyst at the Tony Blair Institute.

“Daily Trust reports that the terror “Emperor” has penciled 34 villages for retaliatory attacks. Residents of many villages have fled their homes and others are panicking. The sheer brazenness with which these terrorists operate is dumbfounding. Giving villages ‘Attack Notice’ in a country that is suppose to have a government is unbelievable.”

There is the widely held believe, regardless, that the Buhari government has not shown as much commitment in tackling the bandits as it has shown against agitators elsewhere, and the deployment of force have been insufficient.

“If the Federal Government can get Kanu repatriated and Igboho arrested from outside Nigeria, what’s making it impossible for it to get terrorist leaders in the North West who are operating with sheer impunity within our own territory? I think there must be something fishy here,” noted Mr. Bukarti.

“If the government could lure the Benue militant, Terwase Akwaza, aka Gana, out of his hideout in September 2020, and later killed him; if they could trace Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to Kenya and blindfold him to Nigeria in June 2021; if they could trace Sunday Igboho to Cotonou and arrest him just a few days ago; and if they could smoke out the commander of the Eastern Security Network, Ikonso, and later kill him in April 2021, then, it clearly shows that the government has enough capacity to deal with the situation.”

Mr. Jonathan Asake, president of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, said while addressing journalists in Kaduna on Thursday.

Asake who said several communities have been sacked in Southern Kaduna, wondered why the federal government which easily deploys military forces against agitators in the South and Middle Belt, become silent when bandits embark on killing spree.

“With particular reference are the recent attacks on communities in Zangon Kataf LGA, where no fewer than 100 persons have been massacred within seven days, 12 villages completely decimated and over 90 per cent of Atyap land deserted by inhabitants over fears of frightening uncertainties,” he said.

“It is sadly unbelievable that 10 days after these massacres and displacement in our communities from all observable indices, there appears to be a conspiracy of silence or a deliberate attempt by the government to downplay the severity of the atrocities and genocides being perpetrated by these attackers across our communities.

“Even when these bandits brought down an air force jet last Sunday, July 19, at the border between Zamafa and Kaduna states, thereby challenging the sovereignty of our country, the government has not shown enough action to tackle the dangers posed by bandits and insurgents, who have now acquired anti-aircraft launchers and sophisticated weapons.”

Indeed, in Southern Kaduna which has mostly indigenous Christian population, the violence is fast assuming genocidal proportion. Villages are sacked and hundreds killed by heavily armed bandits and there is not respite.

“I lost count of our communities completely deserted. All inhabitants have fled their ancestral communities because of terrorist herdsmen attacks,” lamented Comr. Steven Kefas, @SKefason, a journalist from Southern Kaduna.

“When I said I doubt if there will be a country home for my kids to visit some day, some people think I am exaggerating.”

Kefas many properties have been destroyed in the last two weeks alone, and over 10,000 people displaced.

“So far, 7 Churches and some pastoriums have been bombed by terrorist herdsmen in Zangon Kataf local government area of Southern Kaduna in the last two weeks,” he said.

“Dozens of Christian communities have been attacked and over 10k inhabitants displaced in 2 weeks.”