Original image, NPF
- Writer, Isiyaku Muhammed
- Name the person who wrote the story, BBC News
The emergence of the Lakurawa militia group in Sokoto state, although it is not new, has caused many people to express their concern about the way the militia groups are spreading in the north of Nigeria, and how they are effective in getting members from the region, a situation that experts They think that security has nothing to do with unemployment among young people and climate change.
At the beginning of this month of November, it was reported that members of the Lakurawa group invaded the areas of Sokoto and Kebbi states, where they even killed some people.
Reports show that they came from the countries of Niger and Mali, and among them there are different tribes of the Sahel region, where they preach similar to Boko Haram, especially the rejection of secular education and opposition to the Nigerian security forces. .
Before Lakurawa, there was the development of some armed groups in northern Nigeria, where some are foreigners and some are local people, where they are harassing people with robbery, murder and other terrorism, which is throwing the region into misery. and uncertainty.
The most prominent armed groups in northern Nigeria
There have been many armed groups in northern Nigeria, but the most prominent groups that have been most effective in harming the region are:
- I’m sorry: Their leader is Muhammad Marwa Maitatsine
- Boko Haram: Their leader is Muhammad Yusuf, who was inherited by Shekau
- ISWAP: Their leader is the son of Muhammad Yusuf Abu Musab al-Barnawi
- Answer: Abubakar Kambar (Abu Yasir) and Khalid Barnawi (Abu Ansari)
- Failure: The leaders have not yet been identified
Original image, US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Why are they effective in the north?
The fact that in the south of Nigeria, there are often armed conflicts, but they are usually not effective, and most of them are ethnic, or ethnic conflicts, and they do not last long like in the north.
This led the BBC to contact Dr Kabiru Adamu, the head of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, a security analyst in West Africa and the Sahel region, who explained that most of the problems are related to climate change and unemployment among others.
According to him, “There is global warming, desertification, the evaporation of Lake Chad and other seas in the northern part of the country, and the abundance of forests and mountains that are usually not controlled by the government in those areas, which makes it possible for gunmen to set up camp in those areas. ,” he said.
Dr. Kabiru added that the change in climate has contributed to the aggravation of the conflict between farmers and herdsmen.
According to him, “Also, there are problems of wars in the countries that are neighbors with Nigeria in the north, especially in Sahel countries such as Libya, Mali and Sudan, all of which have fought wars. You see in Libya Her gun store was also broken, they were taken away and most of the guns were brought to Nigeria.”
Regarding how the groups often associate themselves with religion, the security expert said that there are groups that are related or claim to be jihadists such as Alqaeda that have followers in the region, “For example, the Iswap group that is loyal to the IS group. This is happening because there are many groups that are related to the big groups of the world, and the routes that are used to transport weapons, and the leaders of the groups travel through it,” he said.
He added that the situation is appropriate for the region, “being in the northern region, there is a strong understanding of religion, that’s why they find it easy to use religion.”
He said that there is also oppression and injustice of the government, especially in the north which has created a gap and economic collapse, “which makes the armed men use money to recruit young people into the gangs,” he said, adding that lack of monitoring system and collection of intelligence have helped especially in rural areas.
Regarding the reason why such groups are rarely found in the south of the country, Dr Kabiru said that although they also have problems with climate change, especially sea erosion and soil erosion, “the problems are not as big as in the north. And the southern regions are not as poor as the north, and they have their own security officers. You see, for example, there are Amotekun who provide security in the southwestern region and others like them in the southern region of the country.”
What should be done?
Seeing how these groups are seen to be easy to enter the north, and easy to find shelter, people’s attention is raised on the possibility of finding other groups in the future.
Regarding this, Dr Kabiru said that there are some ways that the states of the region should follow in order to prevent this from happening.
According to him, there are three provisions made below to face this problem.
He said, “there is a system to prevent the spread of terrorism called the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), which is designed to use force. There is a Framework on preventing and countering violent extremism which was made to prevent the spread of Terrorism through non-violent means. Thirdly, there is the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act.
“These provisions, every state that wants to fight terrorism does not have to create a new one. It just cooperates with the federal government and other international organizations such as the World Bank. Then the national and state parliaments have a role to play. They should step in to ensure the executive branch uses the provisions.”
He said that under these provisions, there are five things that he wants to achieve which he outlined:
- Prevent terrorism
- Protecting the community from terrorism
- Validate the process of research and data collection and analysis
- A plan to take action to prevent the spread of terrorism
- Implementation of the provisions
