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The Defence Headquarters, just weeks ago, alerted the public to the presence of a new terrorist group called ‘Lakurawa’ in the North-West of Nigeria, underscoring the evolving security challenges in the area.
The Lakurawa terror group, active across areas in northern Nigeria, is not a recent emergence, according to insights from a security expert and a high-ranking member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), who highlighted its established presence in the region.
In a discussion on Politics Today aired Monday on Channels Television, security specialist Bulama Bukarti and ACF Publicity Secretary Tukur Muhammad-Baba stated that the Lakurawa group’s presence predates recent warnings, indicating it has been an ongoing issue.
“The group that is called Lakurawa today has been sporadically living or camping in the northwestern part of Nigeria for over six years now. They first started illegally entering Nigeria around 2016, 2017,” Bukarti said.
“But they did not stay permanently. What they do – and that’s what they do still today – is that they move in, stay for a few months, and then they go back to the Sahel or wherever they are coming from in Niger [Republic].”
”They’re not a new group, The DSS is aware of it We thought they had been chased out but we later found out that it was a deal that they should either leave or be attacked…
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He mentioned that the Nigerian Army, along with the police, is well aware of the group’s presence.
“In 2018, they (Nigerian Army) fought the same group and pushed them back to the Niger Republic and this group has been staying; camping in northwestern Nigeria since 2016-2017,” the expert said.
Muhammad-Baba corroborated Bukarti’s comment, saying the terror group has been around for a while.
“This is not a new group. In fact, when they emerged about 2017 and 2018, I think, at least, the DSS is aware of it,” the ACF spokesman said.
“At least one journalist who came and spoke on the issue said he had a meeting with the DSS. At that time when everything went wild, we thought they had been chased out only to be told later on that it was a deal that they should either leave or they would be attacked. They decided to leave and ask for time to get rid of some of the cattle they possessed, whether it was cattle they took from people as zakat.”