Banditry Evolves into Territorial Control: Security Expert
By Segun Onibiyo
(Patigi, Kwara North) It wasn’t just a cry for help, but a sign that terror had conquered both security and health in Kwara North.
For weeks, fear has stalked the riverine town of Patigi, a once-bustling trade hub along the Niger River in Kwara State. Armed militias, believed to be Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists linked to the Lakurawa faction have raided nearby villages, kidnapping farmers, assaulting travelers, and extorting ransom from families already struggling to survive.
The violence reached a breaking point in October 2025, when gunmen abducted two medical staff returning home from night duty near the Patigi General Hospital. Days later, the hospital’s remaining doctors packed up and fled, and residents stormed the streets in protest. “They told us they could no longer risk their lives,” said nurse Sa’adatu.
“Even patients were running away at night because gunmen kept circling the hospital road,” she added.
By mid-October, the hospital wards were empty. The outpatients’ block stood silent. Patients needing critical care were ferried by canoe across the river to Bida, Niger State, or driven 200 kilometers to Ilorin, the state capital.
“We now treat snakebites and childbirths at home,” said Chief Abubakar Bologi, a traditional leader in Patigi Emirate. “Our hospital has become a ghost yard.”
Nigerian national media had earlier reported the desertion of a village in Mariga county, a fishing community between Kwara and Niger state, attacked constantly by Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorists, Lakurawa.
On October 15, hundreds of residents took to the streets, waving placards and chanting for government protection. Shops shut down in solidarity. Protesters marched from the palace square to the county secretariat.
“If doctors can’t stay, what chance do we have?” one placard read. The demonstration, though peaceful, echoed a wave of anger across Kwara North, where communities say they’ve been left to defend themselves.
Security sources told TruthNigeria the attackers operate from forest camps stretching across the Patigi–Edu–Mokwa county corridor, part of a wider bandit network extending into Niger State.
“These cells are coordinated,” said a senior military officer in Ilorin. “They are not random kidnappers and they’re part of a Fulani Ethnic Militia terrorist group structure with links to Lakurawa and other violent groups active in Niger and Kogi.”
In August 2025, TruthNigeria had already reported a security alert after armed groups attacked six villages in Kwara, killing at least 15 residents and abducting dozens. The attackers reportedly used forest routes out of Rijana forest – a known kidnapping hub in Kaduna – to move abductees southward toward Kwara’s unguarded forests. The military’s slow response, analysts say, emboldened the groups to spread further into Kwara’s hinterlands.
Locals describe the terrorists as hostile and alien, often speaking Fulani language (Fulfulde) and using sophisticated rifles.
“They don’t act like herders; they come in groups of 30 or more,” said a resident of Kpada village, one of several settlements now deserted.
“They kill, burn motorcycles, and vanish into the forest before soldiers arrive.”
Health officials say the exodus of medical personnel has paralyzed services across Kwara North, North-Central Nigeria.
“Patigi’s hospital used to serve over 200,000 people,” said Dr. Wasiu Olorunsogo, a retired state health director. “Now patients must travel several hours for treatment. This is how insecurity quietly destroys a state, through fear and forced migration,” Olorunsogo told TruthNigeria.
A senior Kwara State Ministry of Health official confirmed the doctors’ withdrawal but declined to discuss security matters.
“We are working with law enforcement to ensure safe conditions for medical staff,” the official said.
However, TruthNigeria’s findings reveal only security guards are on duty, and the outpatient registry empty.
Experts warn that the crisis in Kwara mirrors a wider collapse of rural governance across northern Nigeria.
Dr. Kabiru Adamu, a security analyst at Beacon Consulting, told TruthNigeria that “banditry has evolved into territorial control. Once health and education workers flee, the state loses its physical presence. That’s when terrorists win without firing another shot.”
Federal security officials, meanwhile, claim progress.
Army spokesman Brig Gen Tukur Gusau said ongoing operations in Kwara, Kogi, and Niger had “neutralized several armed elements” and rescued 21 hostages earlier this month. The military spokesmen did not explain that after surrounding the bandit-kidnappers, all of the criminals slipped away without capture.
“We will sustain pressure until all forests are cleared,” he said.
But locals say the military patrols often arrive after attacks, leaving survivors to bury their dead and mourn in silence.
Residents now organize their own night watches, using whistles and makeshift torches to patrol the edges of the town. Volunteers say they feel abandoned.
“We call the police; they say no fuel. We call the soldiers; they say no order,” said a community guard leader Danjuma.
“If Patigi can fall, then nowhere in Kwara is safe.”
Community elders are urging Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to deploy more security to the area and reopen the hospital.
“Our people are sick and afraid,” said Emir of Patigi, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar Bologi II, in a statement. “We appeal to the government to act before this place becomes another Zamfara.”
The state government has since promised to reassign new doctors and collaborate with federal forces to reclaim rural clinics.
But for now, the fear persists. At sunset on Patigi, the hospital remains dark, its wards empty, its corridors echoing only with memory. Terror, it seems, has done what poverty and neglect could not: it has silenced the beating heart of a community.
Onibiyo Segun reports on terrorism and conflicts for TruthNigeria
