Bandits Tighten Deadly Grip on 10 Sokoto LGAs as Communities Flee in Fear

Sokoto State is reeling under a wave of unrelenting terror as armed bandits tighten their grip on at least 10 local government areas, defying government countermeasures and heavy security deployments. Entire communities have been reduced to ashes, mass burials have become routine, and thousands of families have been displaced.

In Sabon Birni, the hometown of Deputy Governor Idris Mohammad Gobir, nights have become a grim ritual of violence. Armed gangs invade villages around the council headquarters, torching homes, looting valuables, and abducting residents. Survivors live in constant fear, unsure when the next attack will come.

Isa Local Government has slid into near lawlessness. In towns like Bafarawa, Kamarawa, Arume, and Gebe, bandits parade openly with rifles, operating as self-imposed rulers. Along key highways, they mount checkpoints in daylight, abducting travelers with impunity. The abduction of the District Head of Sabon Birni remains a chilling reminder of their audacity.

Other councils such as Goronyo, Wurno, Rabah, Tureta, Dange/Shuni, and Shagari face coordinated assaults that often coincide with storms, when vigilance is low. Shops are plundered, grain reserves emptied, and even snacks and soft drinks carted away, leaving residents destitute. In Illela, Tangaza, Gudu, Binji, Silame, and Kebbe, attacks take a deadlier form: families slaughtered in their sleep, houses set ablaze, and villages emptied in desperate flight. Displacement is swelling daily as farms are abandoned, schools shut down, and entire households wiped out.

Colonel Ahmed Abdul Usman (Rtd), Special Adviser on Security to Governor Ahmed Aliyu, identified community informants as a critical obstacle in the fight. He accused them of selling out their neighbors for blood money, describing them as worse than the bandits themselves.

Governor Aliyu has vowed to treat informants with the same severity as the criminals they support, warning that no influence or social connection will shield anyone caught. To strengthen the fight, the government has enhanced collaboration with the Army, Police, DSS, NSCDC, and other security agencies. Fourteen Toyota Hilux vans and 100 motorcycles were recently distributed to boost mobility and rapid response, alongside sustained funding for fuel, allowances, and logistics. Community guards have also been mobilized to support conventional forces with intelligence and local defense.

Relief efforts have been extended to Internally Displaced Persons, with food, clothing, and cash distributed at camps. Yet these interventions provide only temporary reprieve in the face of widespread devastation.