Who are the Lakurawa insurgent group threatening Nigeria?

Nigeria's military said a new Islamist insurgent group from Niger and Mali, known as Lakurawa, was operating in the northwest, and officials and residents said it killed 15 people last Friday in its most high-profile attack to date.

The military said the previously unknown Lakurawa was linked to Islamic State and operated in the states of Kebbi and Sokoto.

The Lakurawa first emerged in northwest Nigeria in 2018, when the group started helping locals fight armed gangs known as bandits, local media reported.

However, the relationship soon soured as residents began accusing Lakurawa of stealing their cattle and seeking to impose strict Islamic law. The group retreated to the border areas of Niger and Mali but would make incursions into Nigeria.

Nigeria defence spokesperson Edward Buba said the group was not initially considered a threat.

He said Lakurawa increased its presence in Nigeria after the July 2023 military coup in Niger, which brought a stop to joint military patrols along the countries' borders.

Nigeria is fighting several armed groups, including Islamist militants Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province and several bandit gangs.

Another insurgency could further destabilise the region and suck a stretched military into a long-drawn fight, security analysts said.

“The fact that [Lakurawa members] engage in preaching and impose harsh edicts on local communities indicates they are ambitious, potentially thinking 'big picture' about eventually extending their territorial influence to Nigeria,” said James Barnett, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute who has conducted fieldwork in the northwest.

The Nigerian military has resumed joint patrols with Niger and promised to take the offensive to Lakurawa.

The threat by the group was important enough for Nigeria's acting chief of army staff Lt-Gen Olufemi Oluyede to visit Sokoto to rally his troops.

Oluyede also appealed for support from residents to fight the insurgents.

Reuters