Spike in banditry defies military onslaught on troubled spots

Adebayo Obajemu

The nightmare of bandits’ intermittent attacks against rural communities in Northwest states of Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and the North Central states of Benue, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa and most recently Taraba is becoming normal and raising concern over the effectiveness of military responses.

This is surprising to many given the appointments of the new security team, including the new service chiefs and national security adviser.

In the past two months, there has been growing intensity in kidnappings and banditry in those troubled states.

In Benue state, herdsmen have renewed their attacks on communities. In the past two weeks such attacks were reported in which five people lost their lives and farmlands destroyed.

In neighbouring Taraba State on September 10, many terrorists entered a town near Jalingo, at about 2 a.m, killed two Christians, wounded several others and kidnapped six people, sources said.

“Six Christians were kidnapped by terrorists in the Mile Six area of Jalingo area”, a resident Emmanuel Moses told an online daily . “These terrorists, too, killed two Christians, one Balanko Alex and his wife, while many other Christians were injured during the attack.”

John Hussaini, another resident of the area, stated the same information, adding that on Friday (Sept. 8) two other Christians were kidnapped on Takum Road between Manya and Gangum. Abdullahi Usman, spokesman for the Taraba State Police Command, confirmed the killing of the couple on Sunday (Sept. 10) and the kidnappings.

“The gunmen gained access to the house of the victims scaling over the fence,” Usman said in a press statement. “They killed the owner of the house, Balanko Alex, and his wife, and kidnapped other persons. The police command has put in place mechanisms to fast-track the arrest of the bandits and kidnappers.”

Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on June 25 killed 20 Christians in Taraba state’s town of Takum.
On September 18, Gunmen attacked Teng and Pwakop communities in Mangu Local Council in Plateau State, killing four persons. It was gathered that the terrorists fired gunshots and burned houses and other property.

A day before Plateau killings, three persons were killed by another set of gunmen in Taraba State. The incident, which occurred in Jenuwa Nyifiye community of Takum Local Council, reportedly led to razing of houses and property worth millions of naira.

Confirming the report, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abdullahi Usman, said gunshots by the suspects cut down three persons. But for the swift intervention of the police and soldiers, he believed casualty figures would have been higher.

The suspects took to their heels on sighting security operatives, but Kuteb youths engaged the security men in a gun battle. The PPRO, who confirmed that some of the Kuteb youths, who confronted the security operatives, were arrested, said, and an AK-47 rifle was recovered from them.

On September 4, Seven people were killed while several others were wounded when terrorists attacked Doka community of Sabuwa Local Government of Katsina State. A source said about 12 residents of the community were abducted while cattle and other domestic animals were rustled.
Those killed include six men and a woman while those wounded, most of whom were men, were rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina.

Recall that Sabuwa is one of the most insecure areas in Katsina as terrorists and other outlaws roam freely and attack communities at will. Aside other areas in Katsina, Sabuwa shares boundaries with Kaduna State.

“Doka was one of the few communities considered impenetrable before today’s attack,” a source, who is from the community said. He asked for anonymity for security reasons.

“They (terrorists) made several attempts to attack the community before today; that was why they came in large numbers.”

He said the terrorists, who stormed the community, spent about three hours – from 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. before they left with the abductees.
“The terrorists parked their motorcycles about a kilometre from the community and walked to avoid catching the attention of the vigilante members stationed in the area,” the source said. The source claimed security agents didn’t respond to distress calls by residents.

Sources told Business Hallmark that several villages in the area are becoming ghost communities due to the incessant attacks by the terrorists.

Communities from Funtua, Dandume, Faskari and Sabuwa areas around the area are the worse hits in terms of terrorists’ activities, and the spate of killings has continued even up to date.

About two weeks ago about nineteen residents were abducted in fresh Katsina attack on a community in Funtua.

But, according to the police, six people were killed while five were injured during the abductions. The central and southern parts of Katsina have been witnessing series of terrorist activities for over a decade.

The attack in Doka happened a few days after the killing of a commercial vehicle driver and abduction of about four passengers on Sheme – Yankara road under Faskari area in the state.

On September 27, terrorists killed six persons in the Takanai community of Atyap Chiefdom in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The attacks came barely five days after an attack was launched in Kaura, where a woman was killed and two of her children were kidnapped.

The acting Secretary to the District Head of the Community, Mr. Samson Markus, said the terrorists invaded the village at around 7:pm and opened fire killing four people in the same compound while two in another family.

According to him, two children were also victims of the deadly attack.

“We were going about our normal businesses when we heard gunshots, we thought it was the military at first until we saw it was the Fulanis, who came in from Zango Urban,” Markus alleged.

It’s becoming scary as five months into President Bola Tinubu’s administration, insecurity is again escalating rapidly. A disturbing report that at least 23 local government areas in three North-West states are currently under the control of bandits is a serious reminder of the gravity of the situation and a throwback to the time terrorists ruled over 27 LGAs across the North-East.

It’s no longer news that farmers and residents in 23 LGAs in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states have abandoned their farms and communities, fleeing rising bandit criminality. This and other developments reinforce growing public perception that Tinubu is distracted by politics and is misplacing national priorities. He should take security more seriously.

“Now that the Supreme Court has affirmed his victory Tinubu should give a matching order to his service chiefs to stamp out banditry”, Professor Gyang Bitiyong, a criminologist told Business Hallmark.

“With renewed vigour bandits and terrorists are resurgent in many states. In the North-West especially, they are thriving. The worst affected LGAs in Sokoto are, Isa, Sabon Birni, Gwadabawa, Illela, Tangaza and Goronyo. Not only has this affected farming – the largest employer of labour in Nigeria and 23 per cent contributor to GDP – residents are migrating en masse to other areas. Several villages have been deserted. The bandits enforce the payment of tributes to farm or harvest crops, collect taxes, kidnap for ransom, and kill randomly”, Bitiyong concluded.

Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon, a political scientist, urged Tinubu to use his new found legitimacy based on Supreme Court ruling to tackle insecurity.
“Tinubu now confirmed by the highest court in the land as winner of the presidential election should face the issue of insecurity. He should know that among the features of a failed state are: loss of sovereignty over territory, and inability to provide the basic functions of statehood.

According to Brookings Institution, a country fails “when they are convulsed by internal violence and can no longer deliver positive political goods to their inhabitants.” Nigeria has been moving dangerously along this path.

In Kebbi, the least affected by banditry, yet the number of casualties is staggering. According to Zuru Development Foundation, the bandits slaughtered 2,500 persons from 2019 to 2023.

In the first six weeks of the Tinubu presidency, criminals massacred 555 Nigerians, said the NGO, Global Rights Nigeria.

Nigeria is drifting and Tinubu, like his predecessors, is mishandling the security challenges by underplaying the capacity of the bandits, and by inattentiveness. A month ago, bandits abducted eight NYSC members travelling to Sokoto in Zamfara for their service year.

In the North-Central, bandits are drenching Plateau and Benue states in rivers of blood. Eight persons died in a clash between two rival bandit groups in Benue’s Ukum LGA on September 20.

A day earlier, bandits massacred a ward commander of the Benue Livestock Guard.

The Global Terrorism Index 2023 listed Nigeria as the eighth most terrorised country in the world because of the relentless malevolence of Boko Haram/ISWAP, bandits, Fulani herdsmen, and killer gunmen in the South-East.

Moritiwon said the bandits activities mimic a war situation. “It’s regrettable that having lost its monopoly of coercive force to sundry criminal groups, the Nigerian state is hurtling towards failure. With physical insecurity, food insecurity has also worsened, and extreme poverty is rising.”

A security expert, Kabiru Adamu has said beyond the appointment of the new service chiefs, this administration should come up with a serious security template with a timeline on how to tackle it once and for all.

“To be fair, the military has sustained its onslaught against the bandits with superior fire power at different theatres of war – Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Niger”, he said