Lakurawa terror group operating unchallenged in Kebbi – Senator

Kebbi Central Senator Adamu Aliero has said members of the Lakurawa terror group are moving about in the state with sophisticated weapons unchallenged.

Mr Aliero, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former governor of Kebbi State, stated this on Wednesday when he commented on a motion to address the tactics of the group in the northern parts of the country.

The group’s members are found mainly in Sokoto and Kebbi States in the North-west of Nigeria. This is apart from the activities of Boko Haram and bandits that have been terrorising and killing people in some northern states.

The Nigerian military earlier described the group as a relatively new one, but a PREMIUM TIMES observation indicated that it shared al-Qaeda ideology and had been active even before last year’s coup in the Niger Republic.

Later, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) admitted that the Lakurawa group was not new and assured that the military would neutralise it.

During the plenary, Mr Aliero said members of Lakurawa are carrying out terror activities in the name of religion, and as a result, many of the residents are living in fear.

“The terrorists are rampaging in the name of religion. Over 20 of them were killed recently. The whole state is living in fear because the terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons and I can attest to it because they move freely without anybody harassing them.

“Banditry started in Zamfara State, and about nine years ago it spread to the neighbouring state,s, but we didn’t take immediate measures to arrest the situation and gradually and largely spread to neighbouring states to Kaduna and even Niger state,e” Mr Ailero added.

Terrorist movement

Mr Aliero claimed that the terror group migrated from Mali.

“This Lakurawa movement is a terrorist movement. They came from Mali, and they controlled the whole of Northern Mali, and they made that part of the country ungovernable.

“Recently, the government of Mali, with the assistance of foreign countries, was able to dislodge quite a number of them, and they started spreading to other parts of the country, including Nigeria,” he said.

The senator recalled that some members of the terror group lived in Sokoto State during the administration of Aminu Tambuwal as governor before the Nigerian Army dislodged them.

“Even as far back as four years ago, some of them lived in Sokoto; I think during the reign of Governor Aminu Tambuwal, now a senator. He contacted the then-president, and armed military men were sent, and quite a number of them were killed.

“Mr President, we have been discussing security in this Senate and what happened in the eighth Senate and the ninth Senate. We had a discussion extensively on how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made recommendations and we asked the executive arm of government to implement it,” Mr Aliero said.