Growing Insecurity In Kano Border Towns

The rising spate of attacks on Kano communities that share border with Katsina state is not only alarming but troubling. It emphasises the need for a more result-oriented approach to ending the current security challenges rocking the nation, especially in some states in the northwest and north-central regions.
While some communities in Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto states continue to lament over unceasing attacks, there has been a worrisome trend of increasing attacks on sleepy communities in Shanono and other border council areas of Kano state by bandits. Gradually, Kano is being added to the list of states under sustained attacks by bandits.

Although residents of some of these communities confirmed that the attacks have been on since 2022, it’s been sporadic, but now, there appears to be an intensification with scores either killed or displaced, and cattle rustled.

It is alarming that banditry has intensified in Tsanyawa, Shanono, Bagwai, Gwarzo, and Karaye local government areas, which share border with Katsina, suggesting that these renegades are infiltrating Kano through Katsina State.

The series of attacks and abductions include the recent incident at the Faruruwa community of the Shanono local government, where five women were abducted. Following sustained attacks, residents of Tudun Fulani, Malami, Unguwar Kudu, Yan Kwada, Santar Abuja, Kulki, Unguwar Tsamiya, and Goron Dutse, among others, have deserted their homes due to fear of possible attacks.

Notably, these attacks intensified following the signing of supposed peace deals with bandits by some local government areas in Katsina State. We recall that, as at the last count, no fewer than 18 local government areas in Katsina State have signed peace deals with bandits. Ironically, the peace deals have not translated to real peace for residents.

These peace deals have yielded anything but peace, as the attacks have not ceased but are merely shifted to other areas. The attacks on Kano border communities are undertaken by these killers, who claim to have signed a peace deal. It calls for introspection on the current approach to ending insecurity. If these killers are committed to the peace deals, why shift the attacks to Kano communities instead of ending them altogether?

More than anything, these attacks on Kano communities show clearly that the negotiations with the bandits were, at best, a grave mistake and lends credence to our position that there is no basis to enter a peace deal with such killers.

Essentially, these attacks suggest an intensification of banditry and clearly demonstrate that the much-talked-about dialogue with these renegades is a ruse. But what should one expect when, during virtually all the so-called dialogue sessions, the bandits stormed the venue heavily armed and left without surrendering their weapons?

We have said repeatedly that, without prejudice to those advocating for a kinetic and non-kinetic approach to ending this national embarrassment, what is needed is an increased onslaught on these killers. If the nation treats the Kano attacks with levity, then we should be prepared for something worse than what currently obtains in Zamfara, Kebbi and Katsina states combined.

Fundamentally, the rising spate of attacks on Kano border communities says a lot about the nation’s approach to ending the current security challenges. Why was it difficult for the security operatives, in conjunction with the governments of the Northwest states, to adopt a unified approach in combating banditry and other crimes?

What currently exists appears to be a situation where state governments operate in silos, making it easy for these criminals to move from one state that turns the heat on them to another where the pressure is less.

If the rising attacks on Kano border communities teach us anything, it is that now, more than ever before, is the time for the north-west states to jointly cooperate with the security operatives to launch a sustained and coordinated attack against these terrorists.

The rising spate of attacks on border communities in Kano cannot and should not be taken lightly because of its broader implications. For yet another time, the lives and property of residents who have been left with the short end of the central government’s ill-thought-out economic policies are at risk.
In our opinion, the least the government can do is to intensify the kinetic approach by shelling these bandits, especially now that the dry season has set in, making access to their hideouts easier. There has to be an end to this national embarrassment.