A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, refuted claims that the insurgent group Lakurawa, which is causing havoc in Nigeria’s North-West, is a new terrorist organization.
Last week, the Defence Headquarters announced the emergence of Lakurawa as a new terror group operating in Sokoto and Kebbi states, with the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, stating that the group was worsening insecurity in the region.
However, Ejiofor, speaking on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily”, clarified that Lakurawa has been active long before the recent reports.
“I was taken aback when I heard that Lakurawa was a new terrorist group.
The truth is they aren’t new,” Ejiofor said.
He further explained that the group’s members are not Nigerian but hail from Niger Republic and Mali.
Ejiofor traced the group’s origins to Niger, where it was initially formed by Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, the former Nigerien military Head of State.
Originally established as a vigilante group, it lost state support after Maïnassara’s death and later scattered.
“One of the district heads in Sokoto State invited them to help, not knowing they had their own agenda,” Ejiofor added.
He further noted that in 2018, the Sokoto State government, concerned by the group’s increasingly violent actions, expelled them after negotiations.
While the faction from Mali left Nigeria, the one from Niger remained and continued its operations.
On how the government and military should respond, Ejiofor suggested that, unlike the more entrenched Boko Haram, Lakurawa’s relatively smaller and less established presence in Nigeria presents an opportunity for the government to eliminate the threat.
Ejiofor’s views were echoed by security expert Bulama Bukarti and Tukur Muhammad-Baba, Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), both of whom appeared on “Channels Television’s Politics Today” on Monday, and confirmed that Lakurawa is not a new group.
