By Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Army’s intensified counter-terrorism operations along the Sokoto–Niger Republic corridor have led to the safe return of more than 25,000 internally displaced persons to their ancestral communities, many of whom fled their homes due to persistent attacks by motorcycle-riding bandits disguised as foreign jihadists known as Lakurawa.

After tears and trauma, peace has finally returned to Tsauna, Tandaza, and other parts of the Gudu–Tangaza axis in Sokoto State, thanks to sustained operations by troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA. Yet, while villagers trek home to their communities, a haunting question persists: where was the state government when bandits reigned?

From 2021 through late 2023, these remote communities bordering Niger were held hostage not by foreign fighters with grand ideologies, but by loosely organized, heavily armed criminal gangs on motorcycles. They murdered, looted, and raped at will, while the state and local governments watched from a distance, often offering conspiracy theories instead of meaningful governance. It was the Nigerian Army’s boots-on-the-ground young men and women who braved forests and perilous terrain, defying the attackers and gave residents the courage to return.

We Were on Our Own

“We were on our own,” said Malam Usman Gidado, a returning farmer in Tsauna. “We ran because there was no protection. Even our traditional leaders fled. But today, we are back, thanks to the Nigerian Army.” Gidado described how soldiers told villagers to farm freely, assuring them they could do so without fear.

Despite repeated intelligence reports of remnants of foreign-trained militants radicalized during the Libyan crisis slipping through the porous Sokoto–Niger border, the government of Sokoto State responded mostly with empty press statements. At one point, officials and some security agencies promoted the narrative that a new extremist group called Lakurawa had taken control of parts of Sokoto.

However, extensive investigations by Zagazola Media Network revealed that this was largely politically motivated posturing designed to attract federal attention. There was no evidence of a structured Lakurawa presence, no camps, no flags, just wandering motorcycle gangs of five to ten armed criminals, often exaggerated and inflated in social media and political discourse.

In Tsauna, a village they claimed was Lakurawa’s headquarters, we found nothing but 15,000 displaced residents struggling to survive. Just 15 kilometers from Illela, Tsauna had never seen a hospital, tarred road, police post or any form of government presence. The only school in the area had been shut down long ago, and the local government chairman had never visited. Yet, when violence erupted, officials and community leaders declared it a terrorist enclave.

“Since the Army Came, Peace Has Returned”

According to Magaji Garba, the Maigari (community leader) of Tsauni, who spoke through an interpreter, the village had been deserted long before the military’s intervention. “Since they came to Tsauni, peace has returned. No attacks have occurred here or in neighboring communities. We are grateful to the Nigerian Army,” he said. Garba added that the community lacked basic social amenities no school, no road, no hospital, no mosque and pleaded with the state government to implement meaningful development.

Alhaji Bashir Mai Adashe, a local resident, described the situation: “Most border villages are cut off from governance. The only government here is the soldier who sleeps in our bush.”

The Turning Point: Women and Brave Action

At the height of the violence, communities were so terrified that just two armed bandits could force hundreds to flee. Men initially refused to resist out of fear. However, a remarkable turn came when the troops instructed women to confront the bandits. They told them, “If any bandit comes again, throw stones at them.”
The women took the advice seriously. When two bandits later tried to infiltrate Tsauna, they mobilized, pelted the attackers with stones, killing one and injuring the other. Soldiers later recovered the bandits’ weapons, and the entire village erupted in celebration. Since then, Tsauna has remained peaceful.

Military Campaigns Continue

Few days later, the troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA led by one Col. Abdullahi Umar, Commanding Officer of the 248 Task Force Battalion and head of the Defence Headquarters’ Special Operations Brigade, supported by the COAS Special Intervention Battalion led the troops in a decisive operation and cleared several camps supposedly occupied by the Lukurawa terrorists. Since then, the troops had conducted at least 32 clearance Operations within Tangaza general area. The operation, code-named “Chase Lakurawas Out,” is a continuation of the military’s Operation Forest Sanity III initiative. It aims to consolidate earlier successes recorded in dismantling terrorist strongholds.

The Operation yielded positive results

Military forces destroyed 22 bandits camps, neutralized several sect members, and seized an array of weapons and ammunition.
Key areas targeted in these operations include Rumji Dutse, Sarma, Tsauna, Bauni, Malgatawa, Gargao, Magara, Kaideji, Nakuru, Sama, Sanyinna, Kadidda, Kolo, and Dancha Villages across Illela, Tangaza, and Binji Local Government Areas.

According to Col. Umar, despite recent military successes, he warned that lasting peace remains elusive unless concerned stakeholders especially at the state and local levels steps up to provide solutions to the historical mistrust between Hausa and Fulani communities in the Tangaza–Gudu–Sauna belt, which often complicates military operations. Locals sometimes give false intelligence, leading to near-disasters.

“Someone tells us there are terrorists in a house. We storm in and find women cooking. If we were not cautious, we could have killed innocents,” he said. A young Fulani girl encountered during an operation ran away in fear, assuming the military would harm her. When they caught up with her, she explained: bandits had killed her family, and now the community blamed her for surviving. These are the children at risk of radicalization not because of ideology, but because of abandonment.

“Sources also sometimes exaggerate numbers of the terrorists. Sometimes they tell us that there are about 800 Lakurawa but when we get there we will found out that they are 8 bandits and not even 80. But their initial claims would be everywhere in the media,”said Umar.

During an exclusive tour to the enclaves around the Tangaza–Gudu–Sauna, Binji and Silame, it was discovered that every time troops pass through, children, youth, and elders pour into the streets shouting ‘Inda Rabana’ Ba Wahala” meaning If there is God, there will be no problem.

For these people, the only government that they know is the troops the Nigerian Army.

“We are grateful to the Nigerian Army. They didn’t just fight, they lived with us, protected us, and gave us hope,” said Hajia Hauwa, a Tsauni resident, as she added that “What we face here is not just military. It is social collapse. Ethnic distrust, no schools, no clinics, no leadership. That’s the problem.

Zagazola Makama therefore warn that unless the governments begin to invest in infrastructure, education, and reconciliation, the fragile peace may crumble. You can’t win peace with bullets alone. You need teachers, roads, local leaders, and dialogue. If these people feel the government doesn’t care, they’ll make alliances with whoever promises protection.

The restored peace in Sokoto’s border communities is a hard-won success one built not on myths or exaggerated threats, but on ground-level courage, soldier-civilian collaboration, and a growing belief that home can once again be safe.

Despite the restoration of peace, the border remains dangerously porous, facilitating the movement of armed groups, weapons, and ammunition between Nigeria and Niger. Experts warn that without enhanced surveillance and deterrence, cross-border infiltration will continue. The government would do well to leverage technology by equipping the military with drones, long-range surveillance cameras, and additional platforms capable of monitoring vast, unmanned terrain. These tools will help cover operational gaps in areas where troops cannot be physically present.

The military has done its part by restoring peace, rebuilding trust, and enabling return. Now, it is the turn of government. But gratitude is not enough. Sokoto’s border communities deserve more than just momentary relief from terror. They deserve roads, schools, hospitals, and governance that shows up in peace not only in war. Until then, the silence of the state will remain louder than the bullets of the bandits.

Zagazola Makama is a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad Region