Lakurawa Terrorists Not New In Nigeria — ACF, Bukarti

The Lakurawa terror organization has been active in certain regions of northern Nigeria for quite some time, according to a security specialist and a leader of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

Just a few weeks prior to this submissions, the Defence Headquarters announced the emergence of a new terrorist entity named ‘Lakurawa’ in the North-Western area of Nigeria.

However, Bulama Bukarti, a security expert, and Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the Publicity Secretary of the ACF, who were featured on Monday’s episode of Channels Television’s Politics Today, clarified that the group was previously known.

The Lakurawa organization, known by the same name today, has been intermittently residing or setting up camps in the northwestern region of Nigeria for more than six years. Bukarti mentioned that they first began to illegally cross into Nigeria in 2016 or 2017.

“But they did not stay permanently. What they do – and that’s what they do still today – is that they move in, stay for a few months, and then they go back to the Sahel or wherever they are coming from in Niger [Republic].

“They are not new, the group that has been called ‘Lakurawa’ have been sporadically living or camping in the North-Western part of Nigeria for over 6 years …the Nigerian Army was aware.

“They’re not a new group, The DSS is aware of it We thought they had been chased out but we later found out that it was a deal that they should either leave or be attacked,” Bukati noted.

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He told reporters that the Nigerian Army is aware of the group and the police also know about its existence.

“In 2018, they (Nigerian Army) fought the same group and pushed them back to the Niger Republic and this group has been staying; camping in northwestern Nigeria since 2016-2017,” the expert said.

On his part, Prof Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the Publicity Secretary Of The ACF, corroborated Bukarti’s comment, saying the terror group has been around for a while.

“This is not a new group. In fact, when they emerged about 2017 and 2018, I think, at least, the DSS is aware of it,” the ACF spokesman said.

“At least one journalist who came and spoke on the issue said he had a meeting with the DSS. At that time when everything went wild, we thought they had been chased out only to be told later on that it was a deal that they should either leave or they would be attacked. They decided to leave and ask for time to get rid of some of the cattle they possessed, whether it was cattle they took from people as zakat.”