Lakurawa Terror Group Is A Symptom of Nigeria’s Failure to Address Insecurity – Report

According to a recent analysis from Conversation.com, the Nigerian army has identified a terror group known as Lakurawa as being responsible for attacks along the Niger-Nigeria border in 2024. However, it is important to note that this group is not actually new, as it has been operating in the region since 1999.

The emergence of Lakurawa as a threat is indicative of the growing number of ungoverned spaces in the region, a situation exacerbated by the Nigerian government’s failure to address the issue.

According to one analysis by Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i, an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, the Lakurawa terror group is not new. Rufa’i’s research, which was based on interviews conducted in 2021 with various community leaders and members of Islamic sects, suggested that the group emerged as early as 1999 and was initially composed of herders. However, around 2016, the group transformed into a criminal organization operating in border communities, with its headquarters in Sokoto state.

Rufai stated that the Lakurawa terror group was initially formed at the behest of local traditional leaders seeking help in combating armed bandits. According to Rufa’i, the group’s unique composition of herder-terrorists promoting their own version of Islam and aiming to establish a caliphate sets them apart from other terror groups.

In a related paper, Rufa’i and colleagues argued that the Nigerian government’s inability to provide security has led to an increase in ungoverned spaces, breeding grounds for groups like Lakurawa. The group’s growing activities, and the army’s classification of them as a new development, serve as a reminder of the increasing number of ungoverned spaces in the region. Rufa’i suggested that portraying the issue as newly discovered could be an attempt by the army to deflect responsibility for its failure to address the long-standing problem.

Rufa’i highlights the following characteristics of the group in his nook chapter:

• The Lakurawa are armed herders who communicate in Arabic and Fulfulde, distinguishing them from the predominantly Hausa-speaking northern Nigeria and Niger regions. Fulfulde is mainly spoken by the Fulani people.
• Members of the group migrated from Mali, settled in border communities, married local women, and recruited young people into jihadist activities.
• The group espouses a version of Islam that diverges from mainstream sects such as Tijjaniya, Qadiriyya, and Izala.
• The Lakurawa have made attempts to enforce sharia law in the communities they inhabit.

In a reoccurring pattern, local leaders in Gudu and Tangaza, Sokoto State, initially invited the Lakurawa terror group between 2016 and 2017 to address the security vacuum left by Nigerian state agencies. Supported by a former chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, the group was initially successful in countering the bandit threat. However, the Lakurawa eventually deviated from their initial objective, resorting to violence and imposing their own interpretation of Islam. This led to a rift with the same leaders who had originally invited them, ultimately resulting in the killing of the district head of Balle.

Since then, the Lakurawa have remained in the region, engaging in various illicit activities. Rufa’i’s research emphasizes the long-standing presence of the group, challenging recent claims of the group’s novelty and underscoring the government’s failure to effectively address the security issues in the area.

Following the fallout with local leaders, the Lakurawa terror group has continued to maintain a presence in the region, engaging in various illicit activities such as imposing their own interpretation of Islam, collecting taxes from locals, and operating outside the bounds of state authority. The porous nature of Nigeria’s borders has been a significant factor driving insecurity in these communities, with a lack of security presence exacerbating the situation.

Terrorist groups often seek to establish their own mini-states where they can govern, collect taxes, and enforce their own rules or religion, disregarding national borders and state authority. Linking the Lakurawa’s rise to recent coups in the Sahel might support the narrative of them being “new.” However, it is essential to recognize that the Sahel region has experienced decades of military operations by the French and their allies due to ongoing insecurity.

Portraying the Lakurawa as a new group and attributing their emergence to coups does not mitigate the harm done to the sovereign integrity of Nigeria and Niger. It also does not absolve security agencies and leaders of these countries from their failure to fulfil a fundamental duty of government: the protection of lives and maintenance of security.