In a move to curb the rising menace of the Lakurawa terrorist group, Nigeria, Chad, and Niger have launched a joint military offensive aimed at neutralizing the sect’s cross-border operations.
The collaborative effort, which includes coordinated patrols and increased surveillance, seeks to block the group’s infiltration of northern Nigeria and its neighboring regions.
The new military strategy, confirmed by the Nigerian Army, comes after weeks of escalating violence attributed to the Lakurawa sect, a group with links to jihadist factions in the Sahel.
The sect, which emerged as a national security threat following its first major attack in November 2024, has already caused extensive damage in Sokoto and Kebbi states, with its most notorious assault taking place in the Mera community, where 17 lives were claimed and several cattle were stolen.
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“We have commenced joint patrols with neighboring countries to block the gaps that enable their penetration,” Major-General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, confirmed.
The Lakurawa group, reportedly made up of between 1,500 and 1,800 members, was first detected in remote areas along the Nigeria-Niger border. It is believed that the sect, originally based in Mali and with a history stretching back over 25 years, has sought to expand its operations and establish a self-declared caliphate in northern Nigeria.
Dr. Murtala Rufa’i, a researcher at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, who has closely studied the group’s activities, explained that the Lakurawa sect’s expansion is tied to their manipulation of local communities.
Despite the military’s successes in dislodging the group from key territories in 2020, the Lakurawa sect regrouped in late 2023, intensifying their attacks on local villages to collect “taxes” on cattle and other livestock.
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These attacks escalated last month, culminating in a bomb attack in Zamfara State, which the Nigerian police attributed to the group.
The Federal Government has acknowledged the need to reinforce border security to tackle the sect’s cross-border operations.
Local leaders in Sokoto have expressed growing frustration over the porous borders, which they say have facilitated the rise of insecurity in the region.
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