Other MoA event in Goronyo Local Government Areas of Sokoto State, Illela area, Nigeria on Sun 14th November 2021

ATTACKS BY ARMED BANDITS IN NORTH-WEST NIGERIA CONTINUE UNABATED Communities in north-west Nigeria are coming under increasing attack from armed groups – commonly known as “bandits” – despite the bolstered presence of government security forces in affected areas. Between Sunday night and Monday morning, 14-15 November, armed men attacked Illela town and approximately seven surrounding villages in Goronyo Local Government Areas of Sokoto State, north-west Nigeria, killing no less than 45 people and injuring dozens of others. Populations in Goronyo had already suffered from an assault by armed bandits during October that killed approximately 30 people at a market. Between 2018-2020 more than 4,900 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced due to the emergence and expansion of armed banditry in the north-west. Sokoto is one of the states most affected by this violence. President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemned the assaults and threatened the bandits with “ultimate destruction,” saying that the government “is determined more than ever before to protect Nigerians from murderous criminal gangs that have no respect for the sanctity of human life.” In an attempt to curb the criminal activities and attacks by armed bandits in north-west Nigeria, the government has instructed security forces to intensify their military operations and has enforced a series of measures in the region since September, including the shutdown of telecommunication networks, a ban on weekly markets and restrictions on movement. Many of Nigeria’s bandit groups have been formed over the past decade in response to growing inter-communal conflict over land and resources. While these groups are driven largely by criminal motives, ethnic tensions have been exacerbated as many bandits are ethnic Fulani and prey on settled farming communities. Violence between herding and farming communities has become increasingly deadly since 2011 as a result of the proliferation of armed groups and gangs who engage in organized cattle-rustling, kidnapping, plunder, murder and rape. President Buhari is facing growing criticism as the country is tackling multiple security threats, not only posed by armed bandits, but also by the armed extremist groups Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State in West Africa. The deteriorating security situation in Nigeria has resulted in a dire humanitarian emergency, with more than 8.7 million people requiring urgent assistance according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Military operations alone cannot comprehensively defeat the combined threat of bandits and armed extremism in northern Nigeria. The government also needs to address the grievances of local communities in the north and confront structural issues of endemic poverty, corruption, youth unemployment and environmental degradation that are exploited by bandits, armed extremists and other groups.