In Gombe State, northeast Nigeria, they go by the name Yan-Kalare – thugs, with some of their members being as young as 14 years, in the pay of politicians.
In some other parts of the north, they are called Yan-tauri, Sara-Suka, Yan-Daba and ECOMOG. They go by different names in other parts of the country: Area Boys in Lagos; Egbesu in Bayelsa; Bakassi Boys in Abia State.
Gombe State, a land of immense business potential in northern Nigeria, is soaring to new heights with its rapidly growing infrastructure and population. Unlike many other states in the north, Gombe has been able to avoid the scourge of banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency, making it a supposed safe haven for business ventures and aspirants alike.
Although Gombe State is generally peaceful, the presence of youth thuggery remains a significant threat. For many years, since the country returned to democratic rule in 1999, Gombe residents have been constantly bothered by the disturbing activities of a group of notorious thugs called ‘Kalare’.
Initially, these thugs served as political vanguards during political campaigns, carrying billboards, posters, and acting as bodyguards to politicians. Sadly, they have now become violent gangs that perpetuate fear and intimidation among innocent residents in some parts of the state.
It’s a fact , that political thuggery has long been a part of Nigerian politics – where politicians hire thugs as a show of muscle. They intimidate and sometimes even abduct rivals, stuff ballot boxes, chase and intimidate voters. After 20 years of this vicious circle of violence, the cumulative effect has been to entrench a culture of violence in the election cycle, which ends up promoting voter apathy while normalising human rights violations.
Yan-Kalare have been in existence since at least 2003, the year of the second elections after the return of civilian rule four years previously. It was also the year that the Gombe Elders Forum, composed of former federal and state ministers, civil servants and local professionals, commissioned a study into the impact of gang violence in the state.
Sadly, undeterred by local efforts to curb their activities, the ‘Kalare Boys,’ consisting of unemployed youth and school drop-outs, have over the past 20 years, become a fixture on the local political scene.
Interestingly, a source, who pleaded anonymity revealed to LEADERSHIP Sunday that these political thugs do not only operate with impunity but are placed on the payrolls of high-profile politicians in the state.
Disturbingly, in spite of this financial incentive, the dreaded gang is still unleashing havoc on innocent citizens even without provocation.
The menace is no longer limited to the electioneering season. This is majorly because, once elections are over, the boys’ resort to all sorts of crime to make ends meet.
From politically sponsored crimes, they turn to raping, assault, extortion, and maiming innocent civilians with impunity during robbery (phone and motorcycle snatching), especially after elections. Mobile phone theft is especially favoured
Armed with knives, machetes, or daggers, between 2003 and 2024, the notorious gang have killed hundreds of people and injured scores of innocent civilians or members of their rival gangs.
In September 2006, Kalare Boys attacked the convoy of the national secretary of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Saidu Umar Kumo (now deceased), destroying over 20 vehicles and injuring many of his followers.
These human rights violators have not spared members of the armed forces either. On Sunday, 25 September 2022, there was a clash between police and the Kalare Boys. Two people were injured, a passerby and a gang member
Recall that hoodlums, suspected to be ‘Kalare’ boys were said to have stormed the residence of a famous Islamic preacher in the state, Sheikh Albani Kuri and murdered him. The ugly development caused tension in the state.
In October 2023, another victim, a 58-year-old woman was stabbed to death by a youth in Jeka da Fari community in the Gombe State metropolis, and less than a week after, a female student at the College of Education (COE) Billiri, in Billiri local government area of the state, was also murdered by hoodlums in her off-campus apartment.
Record has it that on November 5,2021, a clash between suspected members of Yan-Kalare and Yan-Sara Suka left several people dead.
Senator, Muhammad Danjuma Goje , also a former governor of the state was attacked en-route Gombe city from the airport for a wedding. Though he escaped the ambush laid by the Kalare boys; his windscreen was smashed with a machete.
The bloody clash said to be between supporters of the APC chieftain, Goje, and the incumbent Governor, Inuwa Yahaya’s loyalists reportedly led to the death of five people, while many others were reported badly injured.
And then they attacked Gombe Senator, Muhammad Danjuma Goje – he had been fingered for recruiting the same gangs less than a decade earlier when he ran for the Gombe gubernatorial – while he was en route to a wedding in Gombe city from the airport, on November 5, 2021. He escaped an ambush laid by the Kalare boys, his windscreen smashed with a machete.
Efforts to end the cycle of violence by incumbent Governor, appears to have been successful. Aside his announcement, banning the operations of the two main gangs, Yan-Kalare and Yan-Sara Suka and even inaugurating a special anti-thuggery task force known as “Operation Hattara” (Meaning be careful) that comprises the police, Civil Defense and the local vigilante group , as well as embarking on an ambitious youth rehabilitation programme, involving over 1,000 youths enrolled in skills development and entrepreneurship training, the menace , is yet to be curbed.
He also inaugurated new marshals known as ‘Gombe State Security, Traffic, and Environmental Corps’ (GOSTEC) tin a bid to create meaningful employment for restive youths and to thus, eliminate thuggery in the state.
Speaking on efforts to curb the menace, the commissioner of police in the stat, Hayatu Usman, who spoke through through FPRO, Buhari Abdullahi, said two measures have so far been adopted, including training of .
repentant gangs in different skills such as solar installation, wiring, CCTV installation and home automation system.
Other measure, LEADERSHIP Sunday reports, is the restriction of movement in the mid night by the police except by essential workers.
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