By Steven Kefas and Segun Onibiyo
KADUNA, Nigeria – What began as a typical day for healthcare workers and patients at the Kuyallo Primary Healthcare Center in Birnin-Gwari County, approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Kaduna city, turned into chaos when terrorists linked to the Al-Qaeda-backed Ansaru group stormed the hospital around 9 a.m. local time on Monday, September 9, 2024.
According to Sani Dantaliki, a local security officer whose residence is situated about 500 meters from the health center, approximately 50 heavily armed terrorists surrounded the small hospital and opened fire indiscriminately, causing patients and health workers to flee in panic.
“They arrived in the morning when the nurses were busy attending to patients,” Dantaliki told Truth Nigeria in an exclusive interview. “This hospital is the only one we have here, and it usually sees a high volume of people daily, even from neighboring communities. Two female nurses were abducted along with many patients. We can’t determine the exact number right now because there were so many people present.”
Dantaliki identified the attackers as members of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda affiliated group operating sleeper cells in Birnin Gwari County (Local Governance Area). He explained that the terrorists had initially planned to attack a nearby government secondary school but, finding it empty, decided to target the hospital to avoid a fruitless operation.
“The attackers are Ansaru members. I know their modus operandi because I was born in this village and am involved in local security efforts,” Dantaliki said. “We’ve encountered them before in the bush. They originally came to abduct students from the Kuyallo Government Secondary School, but since schools in Kaduna State haven’t resumed yet, there were no students or teachers to kidnap. So, they went straight to the health center to avoid a wasted outing,” Dantaliki went on to say.
The Kaduna State Ministry of Education had previously announced that schools would resume on September 24, 2024, according to a local news report .
This attack comes less than a year after residents of Birnin Gwari County raised alarms about Ansaru’s massive recruitment efforts in the area, fearing that the county might soon fall into the hands of the terrorists.
The incident highlights the growing threat of terrorism in Nigeria, particularly in the northern regions. Ansaru, a splinter group of the notorious Boko Haram (Western learning forbidden), has been active in Nigeria since 2012 and is known for its affiliation with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The attack also draws attention to the broader issue of terrorism in the Sahel region, where groups such as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) have been gaining strength. JNIM, a coalition of jihadist groups aligned with Al-Qaeda, has been responsible for numerous attacks across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in recent months.
“The influence of JNIM and similar groups appears to be spreading southward, potentially impacting countries such as Nigeria that were previously less affected by Sahelian jihadist movements,” said Dr David Otto, a London based security expert with a wealth of experience in the Sahel and Lake Chad region.
Otto warns that the porous borders between Sahel countries and northern Nigeria could facilitate the exchange of tactics, weapons, and fighters between groups such as JNIM and local Nigerian terrorist organizations such as Ansaru.
The growing influence of Sahelian terrorist groups in Nigeria presents a complex challenge for both Nigerian security forces and international counter-terrorism efforts. The United States, which has been providing military assistance and training to countries in the Sahel to combat terrorism, may need to reassess its strategy to address this evolving threat landscape following the withdrawal of its troops from Niger, according to analysts at Africanews. Nigeria currently grapples with three political insurgencies bent on creating a Caliphate: Boko Haram (since 2009); Ansaru (since 2012) Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP, since 2016 and more than 30,000 radicalized bandit terrorists spread out over several Northwestern States.
The Nigerian Army has routinely reported to the public that Boko Haram is a spent force, yet Boko Haram has rebounded and attacked the Nigerian army repeatedly even after its long-time leader, Abubakar Shekau was killed in May 2021. In May, Boko Haram deployed four suicide bombers in Gwoza, Borno State, the first time since 2020, according to Defenceweb.
For now, Nigerian authorities have not released an official statement regarding the hospital attack, or the number of individuals abducted. The incident underscores the ongoing security challenges faced by Nigeria, particularly in rural areas where government presence is limited.
This attack on a healthcare facility is especially concerning given the critical role these centers play in providing essential medical services to underserved communities. The targeting of such institutions not only endangers lives directly but also has long-term implications for public health and community well-being in the region.
As the situation develops, local vigilante groups such as Dantaliki’s continue to play a crucial role in community defense and information gathering. However, their efforts alone are insufficient to counter the growing terrorist threat, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to security in the region.
The international community, including the United States, will be closely monitoring the situation in Nigeria as it grapples with this latest security challenge. The potential for further collaboration between terrorist groups across West Africa raises concerns about regional stability and the effectiveness of current counter-terrorism strategies in the face of an evolving threat.
Steven Kefas and Segun Onibiyo are conflict reporters for TruthNigeria.
