Inside Nigeria’s bandit crisis – Channel 4 News

Additional information from Freddie Gower

Arriving in Sokoto, in the far northwest of Nigeria, you would think a war was being fought. Armored vehicles and armed trucks cruise the dusty streets. Women and children – refugees, they tell us – beg in the streets.

But these people, who have flocked to unofficial IDP camps in recent years, have not fled foreign invaders: they have been forced from their farmlands by groups of ruthless bandits terrorizing the surrounding countryside.

“The bandits come, kidnap people and then leave. “We have nothing to give in exchange for anyone’s release.” Zuweira tells us. She came with her seven children a year ago, she says, after her husband and three brothers were killed in a wave of bandit attacks. One was killed in front of her.

“After he was shot, he asked for water as he was dying,” he says. “The bandits were angry and refused to let him have anything. “We were begging for my brother’s life but they just ignored us.”

His story is too common. Banditry has boomed in Nigeria in recent years, with northwestern regions such as Sokoto, Kaduna and Zamfara among the worst affected. Insecurity has fundamentally reshaped this part of the country, with many people from rural communities now seeking refuge in cities until it is safe to return. However, conditions in the fields are poor. People like Zuweira depend on donations and the money their children earn by begging.

“If peace is restored, I will return to the village,” Zuweira tells us. “I don’t belong here and we could be kicked out at any time.”

For now, however, the situation in northwest Nigeria is only getting worse. Research by SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian security consultancy, found that a staggering 7,568 people were kidnapped between July 2023 and June 2024. In the impoverished north, where most of the kidnappings take place, the total exceeded two previous years combined. Analysts believe there could be many more cases that go unreported.

Now, Nigerian government forces are trying to fight back, with new operations designed to disrupt the deadly status quo and restore stability to one of the most dangerous regions in Africa.

Their campaign, Operation Hadarin Daji, means something close to “disruption” in the Hausa language. We are the first foreign journalists invited to join their patrols. A joint task force involving the Nigerian army, air force, police, civil defense and state-backed vigilante groups, it aims to impose the rule of law in communities that have become grimly accustomed to terrifying raids by bandits .

We headed north towards one of those villages, Gidan Bakuso, near the border with Niger.

Banditry is on the rise in Nigeria, with thousands of people kidnapped for ransom.

Just a few days ago, gunmen on motorcycles kidnapped at least 46 people in the northwestern state of Zamfara.

Channel 4 News are the first foreign journalists to be granted access to the Nigerian Army’s fight against banditry… pic.twitter.com/xo3KXXlauy

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 8, 2025

Traveling along bumpy dirt roads in an armored personnel carrier, escorted by four gun trucks, it is clear that the military is at a disadvantage in this part of the world. Bandits are very mobile; Appearing from the bushes on motorcycles and disappearing in a matter of minutes.

“They came and woke us up at night,” says Liman, a local teacher. “The children were crying hysterically. “When they realized they couldn’t take us all at once, they picked some of the kids and took them away.”

The Islamic school he runs here in the town was raided last year. Fifteen students were kidnapped and all, fortunately, rescued in a military operation. It is evident that Awaisu, 18, is still reeling from the ordeal.

“For two weeks they beat us every day,” he tells us in a low voice. “My feet were damaged by the blows. “Sometimes they beat me so much that I fainted.”

Although the residents of Gidan Bakuso welcome the presence of a military patrol, the army cannot be here all the time. Once the soldiers leave, they are as vulnerable as ever.

“It’s like the country is divided now,” Liman says. “Other parts of the country are at peace, but here we live in a state of conflict.”

This is a conflict, make no mistake about it. Bandits regularly engage army patrols in firefights, and a military convoy was ambushed just days before our arrival by a local warlord, Bello Turji, who was said to command thousands of men.

“We are taking casualties,” says Flight Lieutenant Zakari. “Many comrades have paid the ultimate price, but that is what we committed to. We hope that at least when we pay the price it will be that people live in peace.”

But peace in this part of the world cannot be achieved only on the battlefield.

The rise in banditry is driven by complex and deep-rooted issues, including a crisis-stricken economy that is failing to provide jobs and prosperity, large numbers of illegal weapons entering the country, and ethnic tensions among the nomadic Fulani people (the most predominant). among the bandits) and the Hausa, mostly agricultural.

The ongoing Islamic insurgencies in the east mean that military resources are even more dispersed and contribute to a broader security challenge for the government.

Whatever success the military achieves – whether in killing bandit leaders or building its network of trusted vigilantes and informants – the road to stability in northwest Nigeria is sure to be a long one.