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Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
In league with bandits — how a Boko Haram faction entrenched itself near Nigeria's capital
New evidence shows how the JAS group's Shiroro cell adopts a flexible approach that tolerates local bandits and their vices. The Shiroro cell of a Boko Haram faction in Niger State, near Nigeria's capital Abuja, is the group's furthest and most successful expansion outside the Lake Chad Basin. Until now, information about the cell of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS) group sketched its existence, but left many questions unanswered. New evidence from ongoing Institute for Security Studies (ISS) research includes interviews with defectors, local victims and women who escaped JAS after being married to some of its fighters. The information sheds light on the Shiroro cell's operations and alliances, and what they mean for counterterrorism in Nigeria. Audiovisual material and corroborating reports show JAS embedded deeply in Niger State's forested communities, blending jihadism with local Fulani banditry – the main source of insecurity in the area. By tolerating the bandits' non-adherence to its strict religious code, JAS benefits from their weapons, fighters and knowledge of the local terrain, enabling the group to gain a strategic foothold in Central Nigeria. The cell is led by Abubakar Saidu, alias Sadiku. A native Babur from Biu in Borno State, Sadiku was sent to Niger State in 2014 by late JAS leader Abubakar Shekau. He was part of a seven-man team directed to meet remaining members of the ultra-Salafist Darul Islam group. After being dislodged from its headquarters in Mokwa by a 2009 police raid, members had fled north into Nigeria's largely ungoverned forests. Unlike the doctrinal and tighter command discipline of rival Boko Haram faction Iswap, JAS thrives on ideological fluidity and predation. Although Darul Islam had earlier rejected Boko Haram's overture for alignment, Sadiku found fertile ground among its dispersed followers and started the Niger State cell along with his comrades from Borno. He began shuttling between Borno and Niger states, gradually embedding himself in the Alawa Forest Reserve area, and coordinating with the local Fulani. This culminated in escalating attacks by the group in 2021. From forest camps like Kugu and Dogon Fili, the group attacks security forces and civilians in villages and towns, and on roads in the Shiroro, Munya and Rafi local government areas. It has killed hundreds, displaced thousands and planted many improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A Premium Times investigation and ISS interviews reveal the abduction of boys who are forced into an indoctrination programme at Islamic schools, and forced labour. Women and girls are kidnapped and forced into marriages with fighters. Strongholds of JAS' Shiroro cell in Niger State, Nigeria Unlike the doctrinal and tighter command discipline of rival Boko Haram faction Islamic State West Africa Province's (Iswap), JAS thrives on ideological fluidity and predation. Militants raid villages, carrying out kidnapping and extortion, which they justify as 'fayhoo' (spoils taken from civilian 'unbelievers'). This flexibility appears key to its entrenchment in Niger State. The Shiroro cell is not structured under the traditional Boko Haram command system, but under kachallas (warlords or strongmen), which shows an embracing of bandit terminology. The fusion of jihadists and non-ideological armed criminals is not new. In Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, jihadists have worked with local criminals for a stake in illegal gold mines. But the Shiroro cell's local integration stands out, especially its tolerance of the bandits' use of alcohol, drugs and prostitution, which contravene the cell's strict religious doctrine. A woman formerly married to a fighter recalled Boko Haram clerics from North East Nigeria expressing disapproval, but Sadiku argued that the Fulani would 'change with time'. It is, however, doubtful whether the bandits would ever cooperate with jihadists out of religious conviction. The Shiroro cell is not structured under the traditional Boko Haram command system, but under kachallas (warlords or strongmen), which shows an embracing of bandit terminology. Notorious bandit leader Dogo Gide served under Sadiku as kachalla before their fallout – though ISS interviews suggest that Bakura Doro, the Lake Chad-based overall commander of JAS, may be mediating a reconciliation. According to defectors and women who lived in the camps, Doro supplies weapons from his base on Lake Chad's Barwa Island. One video, seen by ISS, shows weapons wrapped in grass and fish, hidden on boats bound for Shiroro. This arms flow is complemented by locally sourced weapons, seized from security forces or trafficked through Sahelian smuggling networks, using the group's bandit alliances. Money also flows from Shiroro to Doro, underscoring how territorial expansion is a tactic to also finance terrorism. The Shiroro cell is dispersed across forest communities, including Kugu, Maganda and Dogon Fili, to avoid detection by Nigeria's largely aerial military campaign. The military's ground assets were withdrawn after facing repeated deadly attacks. Further complicating the situation is the Lakurawa, a Sahelian-rooted Fulani armed group designated a terrorist organisation by Nigeria in 2025. While espousing jihadism, Lakurawa is predatory and operates in northwestern Sokoto and Kebbi states along the Niger Republic border. Geography amplifies the Shiroro threat… Arrests in July of Boko Haram-linked women heading to the Borgu axis suggest the cell is eyeing broader expansion. According to a defector and an expert on the conflict, Lakurawa's emissaries have visited Sadiku in Shiroro annually since 2023, providing the first credible evidence of Lakurawa-JAS interactions and possible alignment. Sadiku sent fighters to reinforce Lakurawa, which in turn approached another notorious Fulani bandit leader, Bello Turji, ostensibly to replicate the JAS-style alliance in the country's North West. The convergence of armed groups raises the threat of a wider coordination of violence. The 2022 Kuje prison attack in Abuja involved a rare Iswap-JAS-Ansaru collaboration. A defector who participated in the 2022 Kaduna train attack and kidnapping told ISS the assault was executed by Sadiku's fighters using IEDs from Borno, and partnering with bandits. Meanwhile, Iswap has long sought to expand beyond Lake Chad, even targeting southern states like Oyo to access coastal west Africa. ISS research shows it sent five commanders with 25 fighters each to Central Nigeria in April, maintaining a presence in Kogi's Okene axis. Yet its success has been limited compared with JAS' Shiroro stronghold. Geography amplifies the Shiroro threat. Niger State connects north and south Nigeria and borders Benin through porous forest corridors linking to the Sahel. Arrests in July of Boko Haram-linked women heading to the Borgu axis suggest the cell is eyeing broader expansion. Yet, Nigeria's strategy to prevent and counter violent extremism remains largely Lake Chad-focused. The Shiroro case shows the need for a recalibrated threat map. Responses must include forest surveillance, road security and partnerships with local vigilantes under accountability frameworks. Finance routes must be disrupted and gender-responsive reintegration programmes must be run for defectors. DM
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
A pair of flamingos and tropical lightning – readers' best photographs
'An early morning encounter with a Kalahari lion in the vast Sanbona game reserve.' Photograph: Joseph Bell 'The passion flower in my front garden has been covered in blooms. This is a close-up photograph of one.' Photograph: Tom Frost 'Probably the best picture I have ever taken. Indigenous people were praying on the island to protect Jasper national park and for those who suffered in the fires last year.' Photograph: Simon Favell Photograph: Adem Agus 'A child checking crab pots as the sun sets.' Photograph: Charlotte Thompson 'A beautifully colourful hillside.' Photograph: Alan Wright 'Tropic thunder (and lightning).' Photograph: Jon Nakkerud 'A mural depicting the importance of water in this beautiful port town.' Photograph: Robert Boon 'As our third heatwave came to an end, I stopped a while to watch the soft refreshing rain through the kitchen window.' Photograph: Lynne Falconer 'Fulani refugees who fled violence in neighbouring Burkina Faso seek asylum. When reporting, some moments leave a lasting impression. The blank stare of these quiet men was one of them.' Photograph: Hadrien Degiorgi Photograph: Doğan Evsan 'Fox and buttercups in my garden.' Photograph: Dave Foker 'A touring cyclist on the beach, with Dunluce Castle in the background.' Photograph: James Hamill 'Cable reels in the harbour.' Photograph: Sue Norton 'European squid in the Green Bay dive spot.' Photograph: Mark Obstfeld
DW
6 days ago
- DW
Nigeria: Gunmen kill 14 returning from weekly market – DW – 07/26/2025
Gunmen attacked a vehicle with people returning from a weekly market in the Bokkos area, killing 14. Residents have called for increased security in rural areas. Unidentified gunmen killed 14 people in a vehicle that was returning from a weekly market in Bokkos, central Nigeria. The attack happened at around midday on Thursday, and the victims include women and children, according to local residents and a Red Cross official, who spoke to . Farmasum Fuddang, chair of the Bokkos cultural development forum, said attackers had intercepted the vehicle and opened fire. "Victims included women and little babies," Fuddang said in a statement. Nurudeen Hussaini Magaji, a Red Cross official, confirmed the death toll on Friday morning. "Amongst the dead were males, females and children," he said. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The area in central Plateau state has seen an increase in violent conflicts over the years. Land in the rural area, used by farmers and herders, is limited and has been the center of deadly competition by armed gangs. The government's presence in the area is sparse, and conflicts have killed hundreds of people in recent years. Following Thursday's attack, there were calls for stronger security. After Thursday's shooting, two people were killed in a revenge attack. "Aggrieved youths have stormed a Fulani settlement close to the place where the ambush took place," Shanono Usman, a local trader, told AFP. Police in Plateau state did not comment on the attack.
The Hill
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump must not ignore Nigeria's humanitarian crisis
Christians in Nigeria are becoming modern-day martyrs. People of faith must raise our voices to respond to their plight. I read the account of the horrific terror attack on June 13, where over 200 Christians were slaughtered in Yewalta, Nigeria, while I was taking a break at the local pool with my youngest son. According to one report, 'the corpse of a boy, around 6 or 7 years old, lay flat on his back, his eyes wide open, his shirt covered in blood. His killer had left a giant gash across his face and head. His left hand was hanging loose at the joint; his right hand was severed completely.' My son is not that much older than the boy described in the photograph. I was shaken to my core. I'm unsure whether the mother of the young martyr escaped the attackers. If she is among the few survivors, she will need to draw deeply on her faith in order to believe in a loving God in heaven caring for the son she had lost. Yewalta is just one recent example of the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Sixty-eight Christians were murdered in Fulani raids two weeks earlier. One of the attacks was on the hometown of Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi, who had recently testified before the U.S. Congress about atrocities in his diocese. Over 170 Christians in Nigeria's Middle Belt were killed earlier this year during Lent and Holy Week. Last week, three young Catholic seminarians were kidnapped at gunpoint in their seminary, more evidence of the growing targeted assaults on priests and seminarians. Open Doors, the Christian relief agency, includes Nigeria among the worst affected countries in its World Watch List, reporting that in 2024 over 3,000 Christians were killed there and more than 2,000 were kidnapped. Also, staggeringly large numbers of Christians in Nigeria have been driven from their homes by violence and conflict and are now live in displacement camps. Pope Leo XIV, who visited Nigeria several times as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, prayed for the victims of the 'terrible massacre' in Yewalta the following Sunday during his Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square. The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops similarly called for prayers for 'our brothers and sisters in Nigeria who are suffering violent religious conflict' during Religious Freedom Week celebrated last month. Christian relief organizations are responding to the grave humanitarian crisis that is unfolding. World leaders must follow suit. Having vowed to rid anti-Christian bias from the U.S. federal government, President Trump and his administration are perfectly poised to take the lead. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, empowers the president to annually review the status of religious freedom in every country in the world and designate each country the government of which has engaged in or tolerated 'particularly severe violations of religious freedom' as 'countries of particular concern.' This determination has been delegated by the president to the secretary of State. While Nigeria was last listed as a country of particular concern for its affronts to religious freedom in 2020, it was bizarrely dropped from the list by the Biden administration in 2021. Biden's State Department blamed climate change for the increasingly violent attacks against Christians by militants among the Fulani Muslim nomadic herders. Congress should take action on the proposed resolution issued back in March by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa chair, calling for Nigeria to be designated and sanctioned as a country of particular concern. In the aftermath of the Yewalta massacre, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan commission that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad, similarly renewed its call for the Department of State to designate Nigeria a country of particular concern, citing its 'systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.' Speeding up the confirmation of former-Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) as President Trump's ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom will help Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a long-time advocate for international religious freedom, guarantee that diplomatic relations with Nigeria are better informed by reality. Terror-stricken Nigerian Christians deserve our attention and more. Given the uptick in numbers and the increasing barbarism of recent killings, I fear that that a mere designation is not enough. Maybe there is a better label for what's happening to Christians in Nigeria: genocide. Genocide has been declared in at least six other situations: Bosnia (1993); Rwanda (1994); Iraq (1995); Darfur (2004); against Yazidis, Christians and Muslims in areas of the Middle East under the control of the Islamic State (2016 and 2017); against the Uyghur in the Xinjiang region of China (2021); and Sudan (2025). More recent declarations include instances where non-state actors targeted victims because of their religious identity — which is what is happening in Nigeria. Although there are no specific or immediate required consequences that follow a declaration of genocide, it does carry moral weight. An acknowledgment that the violence against Christians in Nigeria has reached the level of genocide could inspire a global response of humanitarian aid, economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and even intervention by the UN Security Council, not to mention action by the International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals and regimes responsible. The awful, inescapable truth is that in Nigeria, Christians are being relentlessly persecuted, kidnapped, tortured and killed for their faith. They have confidence in what Jesus promised in His Sermon on the Mount to those who are persecuted on account of their faith — 'your reward will be great in heaven.' If we remain silent to their plight, I shudder to think of what we merit.
Gulf Today
16-07-2025
- Gulf Today
Nigerian troops kill 150 'bandits' in ambush, air strikes
Nigerian soldiers killed at least 150 members of a criminal gang in an ambush in northwestern Kebbi state this week, a local official said Thursday. For years, heavily armed kidnapping gangs known as "bandits" have been intensifying attacks in the northwest and central areas of the west African country with impunity, killing thousands and abducting people for ransom. Troops laid ambush on a massive convoy of bandits as they rode through villages in Kebbi state's Danko-Wasagu district on Wednesday, leading to a two-hour gunfight, said Husaini Bena, the political administrator of Danko-Wasagu. The heavily armed bandits, riding on around 350 motorcycles, were heading to their base in neighbouring Niger state when they were ambushed by the troops, Bena said. "More than 150 bandits were killed in the military operation which involved ground troops and fighter jets," he said. The military forced the bandits to retreat, but jets "bombed them as they fled", he added. Nigeria's air force has come under scrutiny in the past for bombing civilians in its campaigns against bandits and jihadists, as the country slogs through conflicts across multiple fronts. A Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) military escort accompanying an excavator digging trenches passes through a checkpoint at the entrance to Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria. AFP AbdulRahman Zagga, director of security in the Kebbi state governor's office, confirmed the incident in a statement. He said troops fought around 400 bandits, "resulting in the elimination of many" of them, without giving a toll. Both sides trade losses Zagga said that bandits were suspected to be the same group that recently attacked a military base in Niger state, killing 20 soldiers. Troops continued to comb the countryside on Thursday. Nigeria's banditry crisis has evolved from clashes between Fulani herders and farmers over resources into a broader conflict fuelled by arms trafficking, with gangs taking advantage of security vacuums in rural swaths of Nigeria that have long had little formal state presence. The gangs launch attacks from their camps in a vast forest which straddles several northwestern and central states. Security analysts have noted increasing cooperation between the criminal gangs, who are motivated primarily by financial gains in the impoverished country, and jihadists, who are waging a 16-year-old insurrection in the northeast. As the insurgent campaign by Boko Haram and rival Daesh West Africa Province drags on, the Nigerian military said Thursday it killed 24 jihadists in northeastern Borno state following days-long military operations. But gains against bandits and jihadists are repeatedly offset by the killing of troops and civilians. Last month, authorities in Zamfara state in the northwest said a government-supported militia killed 100 bandits in a raid on their stronghold. On Wednesday, Katsina state authorities claimed at least 30 bandits were killed in air strikes. But over the weekend, bandits killed more than 40 vigilantes who had mobilised to fight them, in an ambush in central Plateau state. Agence France-Presse
