Mahmuda Terrorist Cell Threatens Yoruba States

By Segun Onibiyo

Kemaanji, Niger State – The stench of blood still lingers in the air at the edge of Kainji Lake National Park, where rusted bullet casings crunch beneath the boots of local community guards combing the scorched earth for what’s left of their fallen comrades. Flies swarm the shallow graves where more than 22 people – some shot, some beheaded – were hastily buried after a deadly ambush by a terror faction calling itself ‘Mahmuda’ or ‘Mahmouda’.

Fifteen community guards and seven bystanders fell on Wednesday, April 16, according to media reports.

The word ‘Mahmuda’ or ‘Mahmouda,’ depending on the pronunciation in the Hausa language of Northern Nigeria, is derived from Arabic. “Mahmuda” (feminine form of Mahmud) means “praiseworthy.”

Terrorist Commander Mahmuda Expands Boko Haram’s Reach into North-Central Nigeria

What’s being mistaken for a new terrorist group in Northcentral Nigeria is the handiwork of a seasoned Boko Haram commander known as “Mahmuda.”

His name is resurfacing with growing concern as his network of fighters expands into new territory. According to security reports, Mahmuda is no newcomer. He cut his teeth in Borno State, the heartland of Boko Haram’s insurgency, before relocating to Kaduna. There, he briefly partnered with the notorious terror kingpin, “Sadiku.”

His next move took him to the Shiroro area of the eastern border of Niger State, where he aligned with remnants of the now-defunct Darul Salam group. Mahmuda reportedly has recruited dozens of youths and imposed radical Sharia laws targeting Fulani-ethnicity herders in the area.

Recent intelligence indicates that Mahmuda and his men have pushed even farther southwest into the forests bordering Kwara State, forming alliances with local bandit-terrorists. These elements are not a separate terror outfit, but rather an extension of Boko Haram’s growing collaboration with violent criminals in Nigeria’s Northwest, security experts tell TruthNigeria.

“This isn’t about a new group,” says intelligence analyst Zagazola Makama. “It’s a reconfiguration of existing terror cells. Boko Haram is adapting – merging with bandit networks to exploit new terrain and stretch the fight beyond the Northeast.”

Makama had earlier raised the alarm over this creeping threat, warning of terrorist movement into Kwara. But at the time, police authorities dismissed his report, labeling it as fear-mongering. Now, with fresh intelligence confirming Mahmuda expansion, those warnings appear to have been well-founded.

The implications of Mahmuda’s migration are significant. With the blending of Boko Haram ideology and local banditry, security experts warn that the insurgency may be entering a dangerous new phase – one less centralized, but harder to track and contain.

Once a sleepy collection of farming villages tucked between Kwara and Niger states, this region is now a hunting ground for a group that security experts warn could become the next major insurgent threat in Nigeria’s Northcentral region.

Police Response

Meanwhile, the Kwara State police command has dismissed as untrue the alleged emergence of a terror group named ‘Mahmuda’  in Kaiama and Baruten counties [Local Government Areas] of the state.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of the command, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) with the Kwara State Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Aderoun Ejire-Adeyemi, reported in a national government media: “Our comprehensive and continuous threat assessments, intelligence surveillance, and tactical reconnaissance operations in these areas have yielded no evidence of their activity, coordinated terrorist formations, or mass casualty incidents as described.

“The claim of 15 vigilantes being killed is entirely false and devoid of any factual basis,” she said.

“We wish to assure the public that all security formations within Kwara State remain proactive and are strategically deployed under a multi-agency operational framework involving the Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with other sister security agencies. No breach of internal security has been reported or observed in the communities,” she said in her report

A Growing Menace

The ‘Mahmuda’ (‘Praiseworthy’) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a string of increasingly brutal attacks across Kaiama and Baruten Counties in Kwara, and in Borgu, Niger State in the past months. In their most brazen assault yet, militants descended on Kemaanji under cover of night, killing more than 15 members of a local community guards unit and at least seven civilians, according to TGNews.

“I watched them come from the forest with rifles and machetes,” said Musa Ibrahim, a farmer who narrowly escaped. “They were screaming ‘Mahmuda’ (‘Praiseworthy’) and shooting anyone they saw. I lost my cousin and my neighbor. We buried them ourselves. So where did the police get their story from? Of cause, it is fabricated. Because they are never on ground when these terrorists carry out their activities, and without restrictions, “Ibrahim told TruthNigeria by telephone.

Another survivor, 17-year-old Adamu Salihu, recounted how he played dead for nearly an hour under his father’s lifeless body. “They spoke in Fulani some Hausa and Arabic, and said they were fighting for their own kind of Islam, a Jihad. They took food, phones, and women,” according to Salihu.

Terror Incarnate with Global Ties

Security analysts believe Mahmuda is not just another ragtag band of extremists but a splinter cell of Boko Haram, closely aligned with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). According to Colonel Hassan Gidado (Retired), a defense analyst who spoke to TruthNigeria, the group’s tactics bear ISWAP’s trademark: “Coordinated strikes, psychological warfare, and the brutal targeting of vigilantes. This is textbook ISWAP strategy.”

The threat goes beyond Nigeria’s borders, according to Dr. Yetunde Balogun, a terrorism researcher at the University of Abuja. Yetunde told TruthNigeria, “Our intelligence indicates Mahmuda or Mahmouda receives funding and tactical guidance from ISWAP and affiliated networks in Libya and Syria.”

“These groups see Nigeria’s fragile middle belt as fertile ground for expansion,” she went on to say. The stretch of forests serves as a hiding place for these terrorists. Areas not covered by security eyes”.

James Okon of the West African Security Institute raised concerns about Mahmuda’s possible use of cryptocurrencies and underground networks to launder funds. He told TruthNigeria reporter, “They’re buying arms from across the border, recruiting foot soldiers too from outside Nigeria and within, and building a war chest. Their affiliation to ISWAP and Boko Haram is glaring in their style of operation. This is not a flash in the pan. It is an all-out war.”

Local Resistance, Under Siege

Local resistance has been fierce but costly. Ibrahim Yahaya, a vigilante [community guard] commander in Kwara, described the battle as one-sided. “We use shotguns and hunting knives. They have AK-47s, motorcycles, satellite phones. We’ve buried too many brothers. No help from the government,” he told TruthNigeria.

Aliyu Saba, who leads a Community Guard group in Niger, echoed the frustration. “We alerted the authorities. We told the district head who promised to inform the police weeks before the Kemaanji massacre. Nothing happened. Now they’re sending military after we’ve counted our dead,” he said to TruthNigeria, weeping.

A Region on Fire

Since January 2024, Niger State alone has recorded more than 115 terror-related fatalities across more than 30 attacks, according to data from the Nigeria Security Tracker. The Northcentral region now rivals the Northeast in insurgency-related deaths, signaling a dangerous expansion of jihadist influence.

The UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) warned in its March 2025 report that terror groups are “converging” in the Northcentral corridor, exploiting weak state presence and communal tensions.

A Warning Ignored

If Abuja continues to treat Mahmuda as a local skirmish, experts warn, it could ignite a full-scale regional crisis. “Nigeria’s failure to act decisively against this group will jeopardize its standing with global partners, especially the U.S.,” said Dr. Balogun to TruthNigeria.

“Washington is watching. They won’t tolerate another haven for Islamist extremism in West Africa.”

Segun Onibiyo reports on terrorism and conflict for TruthNigeria.