Under siege

Terrorists have reportedly taken over the biggest military training camp in Nigeria located at the Nagwamase Military Cantonment in…

Terrorists have reportedly taken over the biggest military training camp in Nigeria located at the Nagwamase Military Cantonment in Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State, and have established at least eight different camps in the area. A lawmaker representing Kontagora II State Constituency, Abdullahi Isah, made this claim during a plenary on Tuesday. The criminals also chased away about 23 farming communities within the area. Isah said. The Niger State Assembly urged the State Government to urgently coordinate with the military to intensify efforts to remove terrorists from the training camp so that host communities can return home.

Although the military has denied Mr Isah’s claim, the facts appear to differ. SBM assesses that there are indeed armed groups who not only operate in the area but also with the capacity to take on the military. A 2021 SBM report warned that the situation in the state could get worse, particularly highlighting potential spillover effects on the FCT and its critical infrastructure. In at least the past four years, Kontagora and Mariga have faced serious security challenges ranging from petty banditry centred around cattle rustling to full-on kidnapping with alliances with jihadist groups. Both LGAs share boundaries with similarly imperilled states such as Kaduna, Kebbi and Zamfara. In recent months, armed groups led by kingpins such as Bakori and Bello Turji have made Kontagora their bases, while the insecurity in Mariga is being fuelled by the activities of groups led by Dogo Gide, Dan Buzu, and Ali Kawaji, among several others. Three years ago, Niger State witnessed the first major attack on a military facility, and it was an incident carried out by Boko Haram in Munya Local Government Area. Since then, the group has established a significant presence in Shiroro, controlling access in and out of Allawa. However, bandits getting in on the fray just three years later not only speaks to how badly managed the security crisis in the state has been, but also the possibility that the bandits are increasingly adopting jihadist outlooks by attacking state forces first as a statement of intent, and secondly, as a means of controlling territory. Unlike parts of the north where the ungoverned spaces phenomenon has reached a mental accommodation between state and non-state actors, the stakes in Niger are way too high for a replication of the same. Aside from being Nigeria’s largest state by landmass, it is situated in a strategic location in Central Nigeria where it not only leads to Abuja, the capital but also serves as a connecting route between the Northwest and Northeast. Furthermore, the state is home to important infrastructure such as the Shiroro and Kainji Dams, critical to Nigeria’s electricity supply. Although its output has tanked for obvious reasons, it remains a significant food-producing state. All of these factors combined necessitate the urgency that is necessary to overwrite the laziness and complacency that the federal government has shown in handling the security problems that plague the state.