Normalcy is gradually returning to communities in seven local government areas of Kebbi and Sokoto states that were recently invaded by a new terror group, Lakurawa.
Top state and local government officials, community leaders and residents told our correspondents that the terrorists had fled their areas following a series of military offensives against the insurgents.
They also told LEADERSHIP Weekend how the terror group, whose members came from Mali and Burkina Faso, infiltrated their communities.
Following the discovery of the new terror group in the two states, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, assured Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu-led government would take decisive action to eliminate the terrorists.
Ribadu, who emphasised the government’s commitment to safeguarding the nation, said the terror group emerged at the wrong time, declaring that, ‘We will kick you out of Nigeria.”
The group came into limelight when Sokoto State deputy governor, Idris Mohammed Gobir, revealed that a faith-based group with idealistic criminal activities, Lakurawa, in possession of sophisticated weapons, was occupying five local government areas of the state.
Hosting the Air Vice Marshal Titus Zuwahu Dauda-led participants of Course 33 from the National Defence College, Abuja, while on a study tour in the state, Gobir expressed hope that the visit would provide valuable insights for effectively managing the situation and ensuring the safety and peaceful coexistence of the people.
LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that Lakurawa did not spring up overnight.
Residents of the affected communities said that the sect’s members were an amalgamation of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso, with their base in Gongono forest in Tangaza local government area of Sokoto State, surrounded by two forests – DarnaTsaulawo forest which stretches to Gwadabawa, Illela and Kuyan Bana forest which extends to Gudu and Niger Republic.
It was learnt that they came in disguise as jihadists engaging in the struggle to establish Islamic fundamentalism. Residents said, parts of their modus operandi included banning of cigarette smoking, alcoholism, adultery, non-shaving of beards among men and mandatory wearing of hijabs by women. They also enforced Zakkat on Fulanis with large number of herds of livestock sale as enshrined in the Qur’an.
A member of the House of Representatives for Tangaza/Gudu federal constituency, Hon Sani Alhaji Yakubu, had also alerted Nigerians that the terrorists had vowed to make life difficult for people in the area who are predominantly farmers.
In his motion on the floor of the House, he urged the military to deploy more personnel and hardwares to comb the forests to flush out the criminals.
“People of my constituency are always in shackles of one terrorist group or the other since 2018 and government is not doing enough to free them from the group’s wanton attacks and cattle rustling,” he stated.
Consequently, the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Olufemi Oluyede, embarked on his maiden visit to Sokoto State, held talks with troops of “Operation FASAN YANMA” and charged them to dislodge the terrorists from the occupied councils.
When LEADERSHIP Weekend contacted the security agencies on the situation in the embattled communities, a source in the Nigerian Army said “troops in an operation devoid of media frenzy, pounded the enclaves of the terrorists, forcing the survivors to flee in different directions.
“Troops swiftly responded to the challenge, addressed the ugly situation and normalcy has returned to the dreaded areas.”
The chairman of Tangaza local government area of Sokoto State, Hon Bashir Salihu, who confirmed the return of relative peace to the area, pledged more synergy and collaboration with the troops.
Salihu said traditional heads and the locals would support the troops with credible information to check the resurgence of terror groups in the area.
In Kebbi State, Lakurawa had struck in Mera Community in Augie local government area, killing 15 people.
Governor Nasir Idris who was away from the state when the attack was launched, promptly returned and constituted a delegation led by the former governor of the state and now a minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, to meet with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, to report the invasion.
Also, three senators and House of Representatives’ members led by a former governor of the state, Senator Adamu Aliero, took the matter to the minister of Defence, the NSA’s office and other security agencies.
Thereafter, the CDS deployed troops to the state who confronted the group in the affected local government areas.
It was gathered that scores of the Lakurawa members were killed while others fled from the state.
The development has enabled communities in Mera in Augie and others in Arewa and Dandi local government areas to return to their homes and continued their normal life.
The chairmen of Augie and Dandi local government areas, Dr Mansur Musa and Musa Augie, respectively expressed their appreciation to the governor and the Nigerian Army for their prompt intervention.
Also, the distract head of Augie, Alhaji Lamne Augie, commended Governor Idris and the CDS for quickly tackling the situation.
An indigene of Mera and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Augie council, Muhammed Mera, said, “the people of the area are now living in peace unlike when the Lakurawa group was present.”
He added that before now, they lived in fear and could not go to their places of worship, farms and markets.
New Group Not Present In Our Areas – Bauchi Villagers
For residents of Burra in Ningi and Gumau in Toro local government areas of Bauchi State, there is no presence or existence of the terror group in their areas.
The community members insisted that no such group had been seen in their areas and countered the rumours that had been circulating in recent weeks on the issue.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, a resident of Burra, who preferred anonymity, described the claims as baseless. “There is no group called Lakurawa here. These stories are unfounded,” he said.
Another resident in Gumau added, “We have our challenges, but attributing them to a fictitious terror group is misleading. Security agencies have also not confirmed such allegations.”
Efforts to get the reaction of 33 Amoured Brigade Command, Shadawanka Barracks, proved abortive. Calls and SMS sent to the mobile line of the acting deputy director Army Public Relations of the Brigade, Lieutenant Atang Solomon, were not responded to at the time of filing this report.
