Abuja – The attack on the village of Ungushi illustrates the complexity of the violence suffered by Nigerian communities. The targeted community is predominantly Muslim, and the local imam was among the victims. The attackers belong to a recently formed group that operates in the grey area between banditry, organized crime and jihadism.
On the evening of Sunday, August 16, an armed group attacked the village of Ungushi, in the Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto State, northwestern Nigeria, killing at least 32 people, according to the updated death toll released by local authorities. Among the victims was Imam Aliyu, leader of the Ungushi Izala Jumu’at Mosque, along with farmers, traders and other residents of the predominantly Muslim community.
The massacre was preceded two days earlier, on August 14, by an attack carried out by a gang of armed men in several areas of Kebbe. The assailants – it remains unclear whether they were the same group that later massacred residents of Ungushi – arrived on motorcycles, attacking residents, looting shops and destroying property.
Military authorities have attributed the Ungushi attack to Lakurawa. Often described as an insurgent or terrorist organization, Lakurawa appears instead to operate in the complex overlap between organized banditry and religious militancy, using Islamist rhetoric to legitimize its violence.
The group emerged in the border region between Nigeria and Niger, initially presenting itself as an armed protection force for communities living in areas subjected to repeated attacks by criminal gangs and where residents felt abandoned by the state.
Over time, however, Lakurawa evolved into an armed group accused of extorting money from communities, imposing its authority over villages and attacking civilians and security personnel, while also justifying its actions on religious grounds.
Lakurawa has thus come to occupy the undefined space between banditry, organized crime and jihadism that characterizes several areas of northwestern Nigeria.
According to some analysts, Lakurawa has also recently established contacts with jihadist groups active in neighboring Sahel states, particularly the Islamic State Sahel Province. This development, however, has not so far been confirmed by reliable sources.
It is significant that Lakurawa operates in predominantly Muslim areas and that its victims are mostly Muslims. The group has attacked mosques, killed worshippers and Islamic religious leaders, while at the same time invoking Islamic religious terminology and presenting itself as a movement inspired by an Islamist ideology.
The security crisis affecting large parts of Nigeria therefore has multiple dimensions and cannot be reduced to its religious aspect alone. The problem is that, over the years, the federal government and the governments of the Federation’s 36 states have failed to adopt a national security strategy capable of addressing and resolving the multiple crises affecting a significant portion of the Nigerian population, regardless of religious affiliation.
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