Nigeria’s new armed group declared a terrorist organization

Nigerian authorities have officially declared the Lakurawa armed group, which whips people for listening to music, a terrorist organization and banned it nationwide.

Lakurawa is a new militant group carrying out targeted attacks on local communities in north-west Nigeria and across the border in Niger.

Nigerian officials say Lakurawa is affiliated with jihadist factions in Mali and Niger, and that its militants have been based for years in communities along the Nigeria-Niger border, marrying local women and recruiting young men.

This adds to the security concerns of Nigeria, which is already battling various armed groups, from Islamist Boko Haram militants to kidnapping gangs.

The Nigerian government on Thursday filed a document in a High Court in the capital, Abuja, detailing the group’s activities.

He said Lakurawa had been involved in acts of terrorism, including cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, hostage-taking and attacks on senior government officials.

The group was also accused of spreading harmful ideology within local communities and encouraging locals to ignore authorities, “resulting in injury and loss of life and property to innocent citizens of Nigeria.”

The group emerged a few years ago in some villages in Sokoto and Kebbi states and people had notified the authorities of its existence but nothing was done.

At first, Lakurawa members promised to combat banditry and help protect the local population from cattle rustlers.

“But things escalated when they started asking people to go through their phones and whipped those with music before deleting them,” the man said.

In court papers, Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said the group’s activities posed a serious threat to national security.

Last year, military spokesman Major General Edward Buba said Lakurawa’s emergence was directly linked to political instability in neighboring Mali and Niger.

The military has seized power in both countries, in part due to pressure from an Islamist insurgency.

In a swift ruling, Judge James Omotosho declared the group “a terrorist organization and extended the ban to similar groups throughout Nigeria, with particular focus on the north-west and north-central regions.”

This move will give the Nigerian government broad powers to crack down on the group.

Security agencies now have broad mandates to disrupt and dismantle the group’s operations, including arrests, prosecutions, asset freezes and increased surveillance.

It could also lead to public stigma and isolation of people associated with the designated group.

Across the country, especially in northern Nigeria, people fear another scenario similar to the one that Boko Haram emerged in the late 2000s.

Boko Haram means “Western education is prohibited” and has repeatedly attacked secular schools as part of its attempts to establish its version of Islamic rule in the region.

The group gained international notoriety when it kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern city of Chibok in 2014.