By Segun Onibiyo
(Abuja) New kidnappings for ransom and attacks on Christian missionaries in Kebbi State show the jihadist insurgency known as Lakurawa (“the recruits”) is claiming new ground, TruthNigeria has learned. The Al-Qaeda-linked group quietly entered Nigeria from the Sahel years ago but was identified as a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government first in January 2025.
According to Col. Mudi Attaihiru (Rtd.) who was responding to TruthNigeria’s report of the kidnapping of a Protestant pastor, in Yauri, Kebbi State, the Lakurawa terrorists are deeply connected to Fulani ethnic militia and kidnapping gangs in towns along the banks of the Niger River.
“First, we know Lakurawa has established presence in parts of Kebbi State, especially around Augie and Arewa and along the border with Niger Republic,” Col. Attaihiru (Rtd.) told TruthNigeria in an interview on October 6, 2026. “But presence is not control. Control is when an armed group can dictate movement, dictate commerce, dictate how ransom is paid, where fuel and recharge cards must be bought, and enforce a rule that communities must not involve Yan Sakai (volunteer guards) or security. That is what your reporting from Yauri is showing.”
“Second, on who is behind it? In southern Kebbi you have three layers that are often confused. You have Lakurawa, which is a jihadist faction with ideological goals and cross-border links. You have Fulani ethnic militias, who are largely engaged in territorial domination, cattle, and protection extortion. And you have criminal kidnapping gangs who work for profit.
“What we are seeing since early 2026 is cooperation among them,” he went on to say.
The Lakurawa fighters operate with a sophisticated vision for jihad and support their criminal partners with an elaborate system of informants who monitor host populations, he explained.
“Lakurawa provides the doctrine and the intelligence discipline – the use of informants, the real-time phone monitoring you described, the ban on involving vigilantes,” he continued. “The Fulani militias provide manpower and local knowledge of Uli, Maga, Kasoshi. The criminal gangs execute the abductions.”
“Third, on expansion. Yes, this is expansion to the South of Kebbi. Lakurawa started in the border LGAs, but the incidents in Danko Wasagu, Shanga and Ngaski show a clear southward push toward Yauri and the River Niger corridor. The indicators are consistent: protection-payment deals with Christian villages in Uli and Maga, the burning of Ungwan Jamba Mission Station in Bagudo on Monday, the attack on Kasoshi Local Church Council in April where 44 people were killed in Shanga, and the killing of an RCCG missionary in Kasoshi” Attaihiru told TruthNigeria.
“These are not random kidnappings,” he said. “These are operations to clear or subjugate Christian farming communities and establish a foothold.”
Yet, the control of commerce and by extorting regular “payments,” shows that the terrorists are enforcing an underground taxation system, in fact, a parallel government in an ungoverned space, according to Attaihiru.
“Fourth, on parallel authority. When an armed group can impose monthly protection payments, determine that no one from Uli or Maga will be kidnapped except when they decide otherwise, control ransom logistics down to five jerry cans of fuel and N50,000 recharge cards, and have informants who can report live when [community guards] stop their buyers in town, that is parallel governance,” he said.
“They have created an alternative authority,” he continued. “The state is absent, so they tax, they judge, they punish communities that violate their rules.”
“For security agencies, the indicators to watch are not just body counts. Look for control of markets, control of fuel supply, forced displacement of mission stations, informant networks in towns, and the ability to switch off phones and enforce silence after a deal is violated,” according to the retired security officer.
“That is how you distinguish a jihadist foothold from ordinary banditry. And from what TruthNigeria has documented in Yauri, that foothold is being attempted,” said Attaihiru.
“The protection-payment system described by community leaders in Uli and Maga, combined with control over ransom logistics and informants in Yauri town, amounts to an emerging parallel authority, not just criminal kidnapping.”
Segun Onibiyo is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
