by Jibunma Anthony-Spinks

Banditry refers to a type of organized crime that includes kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, rape, cattle-rustling, illegal mining, arson, shooting, killing, burning, looting, and general bloodletting. Most of these bandits belong to one terrorist organization or another. The entire Sahel region comprising Senegal, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Cameroun, Mauritania, and Nigeria have in recent years become a sort of jihadist enclave for a slew of insurgent terrorist groups, bandits and violent extremists crisscrossing the borders of the countries within the region. In the past two decades, Nigeria has seen unprecedented rise in the level of banditry and insurgency particularly in the northwest region of the country, with Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Katsina states as epicentres of the scourge. The activities of these merchants of death have claimed and are still claiming thousands of lives with incalculable damage not only to private and public property, but also to the nation’s image in the eyes of the world. The effect of banditry is extensive. In addition to complicating the security crisis in the country, it has also increased the incidence of forced migration, food insecurity, health challenges, displacement, humanitarian crises, and death. For example, between 2018 and 2020, an estimated 4,900 people lost their lives to bandit attacks, while 309,000 internally displaced persons and 60,000 refugees have been recorded.

Prior to the insurgency initiated by these groups, there was Maitatsine riot in Kano, the first large-scale religious conflict in the country. It was led by Mohammed Marwa, popularly known as Maitatsine, in 1980. The riot claimed the lives of over 4,177 civilians, 100 policemen and about 35 military personnel. But compared to the havoc being inflicted on the country by the present-day groups, the riots of the 80s are a mere child’s play.

While some of the insurgent groups have their roots in Nigeria, many of the others migrate from neighbouring countries. First, there was the notorious Boko Haram holding the entire north-east by the jugular. Then came Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP). There is also Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), affiliated to al-Qaeda. Some of the groups seek to annex swathes of land and territories within the country where they impose absolute sharia and feudal taxation, forming something of a pseudo-caliphate. Ansa al-Dine and Ansaroul Islam fall within this group, with roots in Mali, Senegal and Mauritania, with both also affiliated to al-Qaeda. The most recent of them is IS-Sahel, popularly known as Lakurawa. The group is affiliated to terrorists in the Sahel particularly from Mali and Niger Republic. We are told that they speak Arabic and Fufulde, but how that word ‘Lakurawa’ came about and what it means is best known to the Lakurawas of this world. They were originally hired to dislodge bandits only to end up becoming bandits themselves. On November 9, 2024, the group attacked residents of Mera in Kebbi State and slaughtered 15 people. From the look of things, Nigeria has not seen the last of these bloodthirsty groups. For crying out loud, what is it that attracts this kind of characters to this country?

A number of factors have been identified as being responsible for the rise and persistence of banditry and military insurgency in Nigeria. One major factor is the prevalence of ungoverned spaces where the government’s control is ineffective or non-existent. In the northeast, northwest, and north central there are large expanses of land and undeveloped forests which are converted into residential camps by insurgent groups. Some communities are located in remote areas without any noticeable presence of government structures such as schools, health centres, security; as such, they rely on some of these terrorist groups for protection. Such communities are annexed by the terrorists who then establish an illegal and informal economy to the detriment of indigenes. There are large forests in Rumah/Kukar Jangarai, Kamuku, Balmo, Katsina, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kano, and Borno states that provide safe havens for the bandits. The inability of the Federal Government to provide security for citizens has also led to an increase in these ungoverned spaces which insurgents turn into their own territories. Some state governors hobnob with bandits and treat them with kid gloves, and even invite them to the seat of government where they are entertained and given brown envelopes from tax-payers’ money.

Another major factor that has increased the incidence of banditry is the frosty relationship between nomadic pastoralists and farmers resulting in clashes, displacement, encroachment of farmland, and wanton destruction of lives and property of both the farmers and pastoralists. Again, Nigeria’s borders are porous. Terrorist groups do not reckon with borders because their aim is to create their own mini-states where they can collect taxes, marry by force, and enforce their own extremist religious laws. Another cause of banditry in Nigeria is the illegal mining activities in the North West region of the country. Illegal mining is prominent in Niger, Kebbi, Katsina and Zamfara states. This has triggered violent conflicts over the control of minefields, and has led to the deaths of thousands of people. Due to the displacement caused by the conflicts, the people of the region engage in banditry as an alternative means of survival. The harsh socioeconomic realities of multidimensional poverty, widespread unemployment, illiteracy, marginalisation, exclusion and lack of access to basic amenities further obfuscate the situation. For example, it is recorded that Zamfara, Jigawa, and Sokoto states have poverty levels of 74 per cent, 87 per cent, and 87.7 per cent, respectively.

To deal with incidents of banditry and insurgency, the police authority should be devolved from the central government to the states to enhance responsive community policing and intelligence operations especially at the grassroots level. Secondly, the entire border architecture needs to be totally overhauled and replaced with tech-driven border system to stop bandits and terrorist groups from infiltrating into Nigeria from neighbouring countries. Finally, any culprit apprehended should be made to face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrent to others.

*Anthony-Spinks, functioning Director-General, Delta State Public Procurement Commission, writes from Asaba.