Lakurawa, the new armed group wreaking havoc on the Nigeria-Niger border

A caller equipped radical called Lakurawa is attacking villages successful distant corners of northwestern Nigeria and crossed the borderline successful Niger, posing caller threats to 2 countries that already endure from protracted struggle involving respective different groups, including Boko Haram.

In November, the Nigerian service acknowledged for the archetypal clip the beingness of Lakurawa and said its members were operating from office successful the country’s Sokoto and Kebbi states.

Attacks by the radical person killed dozens of people, and astatine slightest 9 suspected members are known and person been declared wanted by the Nigerian army.

The bluish portion is 1 of the hottest beds of unit successful Nigeria, with its states experiencing a toxic premix of equipped attacks, kidnappings and banditry successful caller years. The Nigerian service has besides been grappling with a long-running conflict with the Boko Haram equipped radical successful the northeast for much than a decade.

Strained relations betwixt Nigeria and Niger, stemming from Niger’s coup d’etat successful July 2023, person besides affected associated subject operations and fixed the Lakurawa radical much country to expand, officials say.

Here’s what to cognize astir the group:

Who is Lakurawa?

According to Nigerian service officials, Lakurawa fighters are believed to primitively beryllium from troubled Mali, a Sahelian state that’s presently nether occurrence from a swarm of transnational equipped groups seeking territory to govern.

Groups similar Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and ISIL affiliate successful the Greater Sahara are immoderate of the equipped groups destabilising Mali.

Officials successful Nigeria accidental Lakurawa members are affiliated with the Malian groups but person for years settled successful communities on the Nigeria-Niger border, marrying section women and recruiting youth.

Researchers tracing the root of the group, however, enactment that its members person not conscionable begun operating. Originally, Lakurawa members were herdsmen who would transportation rifles for protection.

They formed an organised equipped radical aft section leaders successful agrarian communities of Gudu and Tangaza, successful Nigeria’s Sokoto State, invited them to assistance tackle equipped bandits who were past raiding communities for wealth and cattle, and who helped punctual a kidnapping crisis successful Nigeria.

Trucks with goods are seen astatine the borderline betwixt Nigeria and Niger. Members of Lakurawa person reportedly settled successful borderline communities [File: Mohammad Babangida/AP]

Remote communities successful the state are often ungoverned owed to the inadequacies of the country’s section and authorities governments, allowing transgression to thrive. The section leaders successful Sokoto wanted Lakurawa fighters to conflict the bandits and support the communities.

Lakurawa members were capable to dislodge the bandit menace betwixt 2016 and 2017 and were paid for their work. However, the group’s members soon turned connected communities, too. They fell retired with 1 of the section leaders who had invited them and murdered him.

Most Lakurawa fighters are believed to beryllium betwixt 18 and 50 and talk Fulfulde, Hausa, and Arabic, according to the deliberation tank, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. Fulfulde is chiefly spoken by the Fulani radical whose members are dispersed crossed West Africa.

The Nigerian subject said it had identified immoderate of the group’s leaders: Abu Khadijah, Abdulrahaman (Idi), Dadi Gumba, Muhammed Abu, Usman Shehu, Abu Yusuf, Musa Walia, Ibrahim Suyaka, Ba Sulhu, and Idris Taklakse.

What bash they want?

In its announcement successful November, the Nigerian subject said Lakurawa’s information oregon ideology is unknown.

However, researchers who’ve spoken to communities affected by the unit accidental the radical promotes its ain mentation of Islam and wants to question a caliphate.

In areas they govern, the radical is believed to person imposed its ain mentation of Islamic law.

What person they done?

Members of Lakurawa person been attacking villages successful Nigeria and Niger. They are believed to clasp territory successful respective villages, wherever they besides enforce taxes connected cattle.

As a maneuver to pull much followers and summation section support, the radical is said to beryllium distributing money, workplace tools, fertiliser, seeds, and h2o pumping machines to needy locals. Some estimates enactment monetary compensation for caller recruits astatine 1 cardinal naira ($645), and astir 10,000 naira ($6) for section informants.

Villagers who don’t cooperate with the group’s enactment look threats and attacks. Lakurawa-related unit has near dozens dead. In 1 of the latest attacks connected November 9, the group’s raid connected the Mera assemblage successful Nigeria’s Kebbi State near 15 radical dead.

How is Nigeria responding?

Tensions betwixt Nigeria and Niger person hindered a associated and integrated effect to Lakurawa and fixed the radical immoderate leeway.

Niger’s subject seized powerfulness successful July 2023, but Nigeria, the existent person of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) determination bloc, has taken a hard enactment with the military, asking for it to instrumentality the state to civilian regularisation and escaped detained erstwhile President Mohamed Bazoum.

Before Niger’s 2023 coup, some countries’ armies maintained associated borderline patrol operations. That enactment is believed to person helped disperse the radical successful 2020.

However, amid the tensions that followed the coup, associated operations betwixt the 2 countries were disrupted. Authorities successful Nigeria accidental that was astir the aforesaid clip the group’s members re-grouped and began attacking communities again, taking vantage of the information vacuum arsenic relations broke down further. Joint borderline patrols person since resumed.

In precocious 2024, Nigeria launched operations against the group. The subject has conducted aerial strikes connected targets believed to beryllium Lakurawa members successful the bluish states affected, and crushed assaults connected the group’s camps.

Nigeria’s subject acknowledged successful December that it mistakenly killed 10 civilians aft an aerial onslaught connected the group’s munition hideout successful the villages of Gidan Bisa and Gidan Runtuwa, Sokoto State, caused secondary explosions. The villages were a precocious attraction for the group, an service spokesperson said.

What astir Niger?

Niger’s authorities has not revealed whether it has conducted peculiar operations targeting the group, and it’s unclear what parts of Niger are affected.

In an interrogation with section reporters successful December, subject person General Abdourahamane Tchiani blamed the group’s emergence connected Nigeria and said Abuja and France were sponsoring the radical to onslaught Niger.

The country, a erstwhile colony of France, has fallen retired with Paris implicit the 2023 coup. Similarly, Mali and Burkina Faso, which are besides ruled by subject governments, person fallen retired with their erstwhile assemblage leader, France.

Since, French President Emmanuel Macron has gotten person to Nigeria’s leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, starring to the erstwhile allies accusing Abuja of colluding with their enemy.

Tchianni, successful a December interview, said apical Nigerian officials, including President Tinubu’s information adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, were portion of a program to support equipped fighters successful borderline communities successful bid to onslaught Niger.

“He knows astir this but helium has kept silent,” Tchiani said.

The Nigerian authorities denied the allegations, saying they were “in the realm of imagination”.