Residents and officials of government in Sokoto State have cried out over the presence of members of the Lakurawa sect in the state, saying they are making life unbearable for them. This is just as the military yesterday confirmed the presence of members of the group in communities in Sokoto and Kebbi states.
The military said the development was exacerbating 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 locals because they were imposing some laws they were not conversant with.
“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 came and abducted a health personnel working 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 local told the BBC Hausa Service that the group is heavily armed and often communicates with locals in multiple languages, including Hausa, Fulani, Tuareg, Kanuri, Tuba and English.
He added that after their preaching sessions, they translate their messages into these languages to ensure that all members of the local communities understand 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 to the BBC 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, for example, they have presence everywhere, even outside the local government headquarters. There is no place where they do not move about freely,” he said.
They’re luring our youths with N1m – Sokoto LG chair
The Chairman of Tangaza Local Government Area, Alhaji Isa Salihu Kalenjeni, had a few days ago alleged that members of the group were offering their youths the sum of N1 million each to join their campaign against the government.
Speaking on phone, Kalenjeni said members of the group had been preaching and imposing Shari’ah law in the villages.
He said: “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.”
Sokoto govt reacts
Speaking on the development, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Idris Gobir, said the group is known to be faith-based.
He said this while receiving participants of Course 33 of the National Defence College, Abuja, who were on a study tour in the state.
Gobir said an assessment carried out indicated that the group possessed sophisticated weapons and their criminal activities were observed in five local government areas in the state.
The deputy governor, however, said as the threat was growing, security agents were working assiduously to address it.
Military confirms sect’s presence
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the military high command confirmed the presence of the terrorists’ group in Sokoto and Kebbi states, just as it declared nine terrorists’ commanders wreaking havoc in the North East wanted.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a Major-General, said members of the new terrorists’ group had since been kept at bay by the joint security forces.
He added that no matter how hard they try, the terrorists would be neutralised within the shortest possible time.
The sect’s origin
Explaining how they found their way to Sokoto and Kebbi, General Buba said the new terror group emerged from the Republic of Niger, after the coup which led to the breakdown of military cooperation between Nigeria and Niger.
He said the terrorists began incursions into northern parts of Sokoto and Kebbi states from the Niger Republic and Mali axis, particularly after the coup in Niger Republic.
According to him, prior to the coup, there were joint border operations with Nigerien security forces which kept the terrorists at bay, but that they used the breakdown to penetrate Nigeria.
“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,” Buba said.
The senior military officer said the group was accommodated by the locals, who initially thought that they meant well for them, adding that they failed to report the movement to the military and security agencies.
Buba gave assurance that troops had sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to degrade the terrorists, insisting that their end is near.
“The terror group has continued to take advantage of the vast under-governed or ungoverned areas to hide and evade troops as well as harass the locals. Troops are locating them and eliminating the threat,” he said.
The General gave the names of the criminals in the North East who were declared wanted as Abu Khadijah, Abdulrahman, Dadi Gumba, Usman Kanin Shehu, Abu Yusuf among others.
More about the Lakurawa
Lakurawa 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 in parts of Kebbi State.
Members of the group, who are said to be from different tribes in Libya, Mali and Niger Republic, were reportedly part of the rebellion in those countries before migrating to Nigeria.
The group, which shares the same ideology with Boko Haram terrorists, Daily Trust gathered, is 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.
Genesis
Members of Lakurawa were said to have been invited by the locals around 2018 to chase out bandits who were terrorising their communities and rescue some of their members who were held captives, an operation they successfully carried out at the time, Daily Trust gathered.
It was reported that the group dislodged bandits in the communities, rescued some kidnapped victims and recovered a large number of cattle. However, the group was said to have sold the cattle instead of returning them to the original owners.
After the operation, it was said that some of them went back to their bases and later came back, this time around in huge numbers, including people from other nationals.
On their return, they set up a camp in Siro-Kuyambana forest. Soon after settling down, they started imposing some religious laws on neighbouring communities, forcing people to pay zakat and flogging those who listened to music or shaved their beards.
It was said that they started establishing marital relationships with the locals and indoctrinating youths, taking advantage of their common Fulfulde language as majority of people living in Tangaza are Fulani.
However, following the outcry by the locals, the state government at the time was said to have sent some delegates to meet their leaders and persuade them to leave the area and return to their countries. They were said to have agreed to do so after collecting the proceeds of their deals (animals).
It was learnt that some of them went back to their countries while some remained in the forest until they were dislodged in a joint operation conducted by the military and the Department of State Services (DSS) around 2019.
A few years later, members of the group started returning to Tsauna forest, which was hitherto under the control of bandits. Since then, they have been expanding their bases in the area.
Daily Trust