Tobi Aworinde, Adeniyi Olugbemi, Maiharaji Altine and James Abraham

The Vice-Chairman of Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Galadima, on Monday said bandits killed six members of the Civilian Joint Task Force in the area, adding that the council pays the hoodlums ransoms daily.

Galadima said this when he received the Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau, who was in the state to assess the security threat being posed by banditry and listen to the challenges facing the people.

Dambazau also visited the Emir of Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, in his palace where stakeholders expressed their travails at the hands of bandits operating in the state to the minister.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Galadima after highlighting the challenges being faced by the people of his local government area as a result of banditry said every day “we pay ransom to bandits.”

He said, “Six members of the Civilian JTF were attacked and killed on Sunday by the bandits after receiving their pay from Shinkafi town and were on their way back to their villages.

“Even yesterday (Sunday), these bandits sent a letter to the district head of Shinkafi town (saying) that they were coming to attack the town.

“This ugly situation is very disheartening; every day we pay millions of naira in ransom to these bandits. We really need government’s urgent support to end this problem.

“Our women also suffer a lot (because) the bandits attack communities and abduct ladies from their parents’ homes. People no longer sleep with their two eyes closed in the night in Shinkafi LGA.

“We want the government to resolve the issue of shortage of troops and police. We only have 19 soldiers in this town.

“We need urgent intervention from the government; we are not satisfied with the efforts and strategies of the security agencies.

“We all know the camps where these bandits stay; even the security men are aware of these camps; our major concern is that security personnel are not getting to these bandits.We are hoping that with this visit, this problem will come to an end.”

According to Galadima, at least 98 communities in Shinkafi LGA have been deserted due to the activities of bandits in the state.

Dambazau said, “This is not my first visit to Zamfara; we started this process to ensure lasting solutions to these problems, not only in Zamfara State.

“President Buhari asked me to visit Shinkafi and Anka emirates in Zamfara to carry out the assessment and discuss these issues. The President also expresses his condolence over loss of lives and destruction of properties as a result of insecurity.

“It is the responsibility of government to ensure lives and properties are secure. That is why we must do everything possible to ensure the end of this situation.

“We commenced this process by meeting with the leaders of Miyetti Allah; we are going to consult with traditional rulers and governors of the most affected states.”

The Emir of Shinkafi, Alhaji Muhammad Makwashe-Isah, who praised the minister for the visit, urged the Federal Government to do more in fighting banditry in the state.

Act fast, we can’t go to farm again, Emir tells FG

At Anka, the stakeholders bore their minds on the security situation in the state to Dambazau.

The Emir of Anka and Chairman of Zamfara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, told the minister, who paid him a condolence visit over the killings in his domain,  that no fewer than 13,000 people had fled villages in his domain because of attacks by bandits.

The traditional rule said the Federal Government must act fast to enable the people to farm this season.

He stated, “We are happy that the Minister of Interior has come here to see us and to condole with us over the tragedy we are experiencing. Now that you are here, our hope of getting rid of these criminals has been rekindled.

“We have witnessed a lot of killings and abductions of our people. As I am talking to you now, we have more than 13,000 people who have left their villages and relocated here (to Anka town). There are many others at different towns and villages. Some of them have even left the state.

“So, the issue of farming is not possible because the people have deserted their villages and unless Federal Government does something urgent and in time, many people would not have the chance to farm.”

The minister warned the bandits operating in Zamfara to either surrender immediately or be killed.

Dambazau said the Federal Government had made adequate arrangements on how best to tackle banditry and other insecurity issues affecting the state.

The minister maintained that the Federal Government would soon deploy adequate security personnel to root out bandits from Zamfara.

He told the emir that President Buhari was very much worried over what was going on in the state and promised to get rid of the bandits within the shortest possible time.

“President Buhari is much worried about what is currently happening in Zamfara and that is why he sent me to visit you,” Dambazau said.

He explained that the Federal Government had mapped out strategies on how best to tackle the security issues in the state, calling on the people of the state to have patience.

“I want to assure the people of Zamfara State that the Federal Government would very soon end the killings and kidnappings in the state.  Once again, warn the bandits to either surrender or face the wrath of the law.”

Meanwhile, some survivors of banditry and kidnapping, who are taking refuge in various internally displaced persons’ camps in the North-West, have explained how their communities were attacked.

While most of the IDPs in separate interviews with The PUNCH claimed their attackers were Fulani, others stated that bandits levied villagers to avoid attacks.

In Plateau State, although the survivors were not in the IDPs’ camps, they also claimed their attackers and abductors were Fulani.

‘Bandits attacked our village because we didn’t accommodate them’

In Sokoto at the Gandi Primary School IDP camp in Rabah, Salish Ibrahim from  Warwanna village, said security officials failed to arrest the bandits when the villagers complained about their activities.

Ibrahim, who is a member of the vigilante group in the village, said, “The bandits attacked our village because we did not cooperate with them nor accommodate them. There were times they came to buy foodstuffs, petrol, call cards and other items.

“Our people stopped selling these things to them when we discovered their identities and we reported to the government. The government sent security officials  but no arrest was made. That was the only problem we had with them.

“We are left with no option but to form a vigilante group because in our village we don’t have any security presence.”

Also at the camp, Ahmed Sidi, a resident of the Kursa village, lamented his idleness as the planting season approaches.

Sidi said he was returning from farm when his village was attacked, adding that “When we saw them in large numbers armed with guns, nobody told us to take to our heels. We cannot return home for now because those that attacked us are still loitering around our villages.”

Bandits asked five villages to pay N20m to avoid attacks – Resident

But a resident of the Aljimma village in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that the bandits levied five villages in the area N20m.

He said the bandits asked the villages to pay the money to avoid attacks.

He stated, “They would send a representative to our communities asking us to pay a certain amount of money running into millions of naira as a condition for living in peace. It has happened to our village and other neighbouring communities.

“Let me give you a breakdown of villages and the ransoms paid. They placed N10m ransom on Gora community, N5m on Faru village, N1.5m on Gidan Isah community, the people of Ilankwai village had to pay N2m while Gidan Baushe village was levied N2.5m . All the villages paid the levy but I’m not sure whether Gora people were able to meet the demand.

“I was part of the team that took the ransom put on our village to the bandits inside the forest. We had to mobilise ourselves by going from house to house to collect the money in order to meet the demand. Failure to do so would be very calamitous on us.”

My son was with bandits for many days–Journalist

Narrating his ordeal, a journalist working with Zamfara Radio, Mallam Adamu Kanoma, told The PUNCH that his son, Nura, spent many days with the bandits because of non-payment of ransom.

He expressed happiness that the boy finally escaped from his abductors.

On how to tackle banditry, the Emir of Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said all stakeholders must be involved in solving the banditry problem.

“Everyone, including the security agencies, government and traditional rulers, must play a role aimed at bringing this criminality to an end. Failure or otherwise cannot be attributed to the security agencies alone,” he said.

My abductors are Fulani – Plateau nurse

In Plateau State, investigations by one of our correspondents showed that in the past one month, over eight kidnapping cases were reported in Jos metropolis alone.

The Village Head of Dong in Jos North Council Area, Augustine Agwom, in an interview with The PUNCH said, “We have not recovered from the shock of the kidnap incident of an 11-year-old boy at Barkin Ladi only for us to hear again of the abduction of Master Obedience Ishaya, a pupil of the Government Primary School, Dong. I’m not happy that since his disappearance more than one month ago, he has not been found.”

Also residents of Rukuba Road community in Jos North said nearly every night, bandits struck and kidnapped people.

A nurse in the community, Naomi Ezekiel, explained how she was kidnapped and released after her husband paid ransom to her abductors.

She said, “We were already sleeping in the house around 12.30 am when we were woken up by a loud sound at the door. Before I knew what was happening, three men, two of them bearing AK-47 rifles had entered our house.

“They demanded money and when my husband and I gave them all the money we had with us in the house, they said it was not enough.

“They said they would go with my husband claiming that they were sent by somebody to kill him, but my husband, who had agreed to go with them, escaped before they left the compound and they came back to the house and abducted me.

“We trekked from the compound to the bush and after we passed the School of the Deaf; they took me deeper into the bush. I slept on a mountain inside the bush.

“The people that abducted me were Fulani from the way they were looking. I don’t like to mention the amount we paid them to release me but it was in hundreds of thousands of naira, which my husband provided.”

In Zamfara, it was gathered that the local governments worst hit by the menace were Maru, Maradun, Zurmi, Shinkafi, Gusau, Kaura-Namoda and Anka.

A resident of Maru, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, the bandits that were attacking his people were Fulani herdsmen.

“Many of them are non-Nigerians living in the forest areas of the state. Although some of the Fulani are indigenes of the state, the majority of them come from neighbouring countries of Niger, Mali and Cameroon,” he added.

He reasoned that the Fulani’s decision to join banditry could be blamed on cattle rustling.

He said. “One reason is the stealing of their animals by rustlers, who are also Fulani people from other countries. Many Fulani lost almost all their animals to rustlers, as such they were left with no option but to join the bandits since they could not farm or do any other business to survive.

“The kidnappers have become so daring nowadays. They send letters to villagers demanding huge amount of money. They go to collect the money knowing full well that nobody would dare them.”

Kidnappers are not Fulani but bandits – Miyetti Allah

But the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has denied the allegations against its members that they demand money from communities to avoid being attacked.

The National Secretary, Miyetti Allah, Mr Saleh Alhassan, in an interview with The PUNCH, said herdsmen should not be confused with bandits.

Alhassan said, “I don’t think it’s true. Where? Who? Was it reported to any security agency? With all this misinformation going on, is it from a reliable source? Is it the DPO of a village or a local chief? Are the so-called Fulani herdsmen with herds of cattle or are they referring to bandits and nobody knows their identity?

“We must be careful because there is this stereotyping going on. Do we have ungoverned places in this country? I am not aware and I don’t think it’s true because every inch of this country has leadership, either traditional, the DPOs or local government chairmen. We have councillors.

“We must be very careful with the kind of information we take as serious news. If somebody says someone is paying to access his land, where? Which northern community? People just want to raise unnecessary information but we know it’s all part of the larger politics.”

Blue3k:
These people should stop feeding the beast snd just go kill them theirselves. The millions of naira can buy ak-47s and vest. Sitting on your hands waiting on state is not an option when they're robbing and kidnapping your women and children. Just form a millitia go to their hideout or kill them when they come to collect.

These bandits are bullies. They run away to neighboring states when the army gives them the slightest resistance. If you start blowing their heads off they'll bother someone else.

grandstar:


The solution isn't that simply. The banditry is a mirror of the country. It needs a holistic approach.

Many of these bandits groups are either offsprings of Boko Haram or influenced by them. They are not just ordinary bandits as we may believe. They have military like weapons. It's also symptomic of the hopelessness that has gripped millions.

Many of these bandits have informers in the security agencies and alert them of government raids. I'm sure these army guys receive a cut from the bandits.

Defeating them won't be easily with military might. You'll keep cutting them down and they will simply get new recruits. They mirror the poor value systems where there is a "get rich quick" mentality and nobody gives a damn where your fortune originates from.

It also exposes the unprofessionalism in the security agencies. Why aren't these bandits in Niger Republic for instance? I'm sure the no nonsense gendarmes with a sense of duty will will them out.

Blue3k:



I know all that and it still doesn't change my opinion. Fact it they're spending millions of naira that can be used to fight them off. They're up against the devil and deep blue sea. Waiting on the FG to gets its avt together while your kids and wives are being taken isnt a plan. Its either they run or they fight.

I've been saying they need a permanent security build up in the region. We all kmow they're going to run away. Then there has be social and economic reforms of some sort. The bandits aren't going to engage in direct assault on anyone. Niger Republic has always been safer than northern nigeria anyway. They're poorer and yet they dont cause all this havoc.

But a resident of the Aljimma village in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that the bandits levied five villages in the area N20m.

A resident of Maru, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, the bandits that were attacking his people were Fulani herdsmen.

“Many of them are non-Nigerians living in the forest areas of the state. Although some of the Fulani are indigenes of the state, the majority of them come from neighbouring countries of Niger, Mali and Cameroon,” he added.

Blue3k:


That's alot if cash man. Im telling you you guys can get alot of weapons. Someone needs to tell us street value of the guns. The ammonium is pretty cheap. 70 weapons a some practice you would be something to be feared.


Lol after extorting 20 million they go live in forest. Man the hustle is real.

This Sunday, May 12, a new anti-Christian jihadist attack was perpetrated in northern Burkina Faso, in Dablo (Sanmatenga province). According to a fairly classic scenario: six people, including a priest, were savagely murdered in high mass by thirty jihadists. The attack came just two days after the liberation of four hostages (two French, one American and one South Korean) from northern Burkina Faso by the French special forces of the commando Hubert (COS). Alexandre del Valle takes stock of the rise of jihadism in this part of the world.

The May 12 anti-Christian attack in Burkina Faso is in fact only the result of a long list that has been growing in numbers for years, to the point of becoming a basic trend. Recall that on April 28, an Islamist anti-Christian attack had killed six people in Burkina-Faso (faithful of the Protestant church of Silgadji, province of Soum, attacked at the exit of the office), and that already, in March , the Catholic priest Joël Yougbaré had been kidnapped then murdered by a jihadist group. A month earlier, on February 15, Spanish Protestant missionary César Fernandez was shot dead. On June 3, 2018, Evangelical pastor Pierre Boena was abducted with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. And on May 20 of the same year, it was a Christian leader of Arbinda who had been kidnapped with his wife. We also remember the assassination in January 2016 in Ouagadougou - claimed by AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) - 30 people including 7 Christians (and an American missionary) on pilgrimage.

As can be seen, anti-Christian attacks have become commonplace in Burkina Faso since 2015 with the emergence and radicalization of a multitude of local jihadist groups all more or less attached to the two major Islamic world-terrorist centers, Daesh and al-Qaeda. These include the Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM, JNIM in Arabic), close to AQIM, and the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (EIGS), attached to Daesh. In northern Burkina Faso, particularly the Soum region, jihadist attacks against Christian or indigenous targets accused of being close to former Western colonizers are now daily. The deadly anti-Christian attacks are regularly launched by jihadist groups throughout Africa, from Nigeria to Somalia, via Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Mali, Niger, Benin, and even , which is new, Ivory Coast ...

ON THE SAME SUBJECT The fake news of Islamophobia: why the hatred of Muslims by the West is an "ideological intoxication"
The new anti-Christian intolerance is of course the direct result of the spread of Wahhabi salafism imported from petrodollars for decades in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
In general, we have seen for the last two decades that Muslim sub-Saharan Africa and the neighboring non-Muslim regions are the area of ​​the world where the persecution of Christians is worsening as quickly as possible and causing the most deaths. - general indifference of the West, the United Nations, the European Union and the European governments, much more concerned by the often imaginary Western "Islamophobia" than by the defense of African Christians whose fate leaves them even more indifferent than the Christians of the East. This new anti-Christian intolerance is of course the direct result of the spread of Wahhabi salafism imported from petrodollars for decades in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

ON THE SAME SUBJECT Towards an international special tribunal to judge jihadists?
This "wahhabisation" of African Islam is a real tragedy for Christians, non-Muslims in general (animists), and non-Salafist or heterodox Muslims (moderate Sufis, secular, etc.), because African Islam, formerly imbued with heterodox marabout traditions stemming from totemism and Sufism, became more and more orthodox, strict, Salafist, and therefore more intolerant towards the "deviants, apostates and infidels", and therefore more totalitarian. The neo-Salafists systematically attack Christians, especially converts, but also followers of maraboutism and Sufism.

However, we will see in the following lines that although Wahhabi Salafism, stemming from the radical Sunni school of hanbalism, is foreign to official African Islam, a Malikite majority rite and often imbued with heterodox maraboutic Sufism, it exists in certain currents. of the Sunni African Malikite Islam and even confrère ultra-radical trends and historical precedents of jihadist gesture that owe nothing to Salafism while being potentially permeable.

Burkina-Faso-Benin: weak link and new privileged target of African jihadism
According to the Center for Strategic Studies of Africa linked to the US Department of Defense, and according to French forces present on site, the Sahel is today the area where Islamist terrorism is growing fastest. In the already very chaotic context of the Sahel, a new land of predilection for jihadism, Burkina Faso has suffered since 2015 alone about 80 Islamic attacks. Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been confronted with increasingly deadly and recurrent jihadist attacks perpetrated by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar Dine, the Movement for the Uniqueness of the Jihad in West Africa (Mujao). ), Al-Mourabitoune, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, linked to al-Qaeda), the Islamic State in the Great Sahara, Katiba Macina or Ansar-ul Islam, linked to Daesh.

We remember in particular the jihadist attack of March 2, 2018 against the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the French Embassy in Ouagadougou, claimed by the GSIM, which killed 16 people. Or that of August 13, 2017, when jihadists opened fire on a restaurant in central Ouagadougou (19 dead). Across the continent, there is increasing tension between communities, most of the time fueled by Salafist / jihadist Islamist groups. In recent years, jihadism has progressed not only in Muslim countries (Mali, Burkina-Faso), but also more and more in mixed Christian / Muslim countries, as we see in Nigeria, of course, but also, what is new in countries like Côte d'Ivoire, a country torn between antagonistic tribes and between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south, but where the jihadist attacks are very recent.

We remember in particular the attack of March 13, 2016 that killed 19 people (including three Ivorian soldiers) in a tourist area of ​​the seaside resort of Ivory Coast Grand-Bassam, a popular tourist destination in Ivory Coast classified Heritage UNESCO, which was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. As elsewhere, the tourist places and people are, with the military of the G5 Sahel countries and the governmental symbols ("loyal to the Western imperialists", privileged targets of the jihadists. As for Benin, increasingly infiltrated by jihadism from neighboring Burkina Faso, it will be recalled that the French hostages released by the French commando COS had ventured as part of a safari in the park of Penjari (Benin), one of the most beautiful in West Africa. Already reported for its proximity to the jihad and terrorism zones, this park is less and less visited due to insecurity and risk of kidnapping. As in Egypt (Nile, Sharm el-Sheikh, Alexandria, etc.), Tunisia (Bardo attacks and beaches), or elsewhere, the strategy of the jihadist groups is to destroy tourism and make the whole area (in the Sahel) is unstable and dangerous.

It is clear that for years, areas where security is no longer guaranteed continue to expand, with the prospect of destabilization and the establishment of lasting ethno-tribal and interreligious chaos for the countries in place. . Thus, countries like Benin, which is trying to develop its tourism, or even Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon, without forgetting Nigeria, have their coasts and their border areas more targeted.

Fulani Muslim nomads fleeing desertification by raiding the sedentary and Christian South: a double movement of climate and civilization background
The underlying (jihadist) problem in sub-Saharan Africa lies in the vast phenomenon of the exodus of African Muslim nomads from the Fulani or Foulani ethnic groups, from the north and prey to drought, who are descending more and more towards the center and the south in mixed Muslim / Christian or predominantly non-Muslim countries. Recall that in the Sahelian band, rainfall has dropped by 20% in the last 40 years, forcing Fulani nomads to seek new grazing areas to the detriment of sedentary farmers. At the same time, the other major "concrete" scourge of sub-Saharan Africa, the uncontrolled supernaturality (the Sahel is the only region in the world that has not begun its demographic transition), is leading farmers to seek new lands, which is more and more problematic. Another amplifying phenomenon is the disintegration of the state that has been observed since the 1980s.

This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in Nigeria, for example, the most dangerous country for Christians (poor Muslims in the North and better-off Christians, who hold water and hydrocarbons in the South), Mali, Burkina Faso or the Republic. Central African (victim of massive raids for several years). In their pilgrimage to find grazing land for their cattle, nomadic Muslim predators attack the villages of Christians, animists or moderate Muslims who are not Fulani or hostile to Islamism. These raiders are "blessed" by Islamist preachers who rely on the legal tradition of jihad and raids contained in Sharia law and inherited from Fulani Islamic "empires" of the past. Founded in 2015 and operating mainly in the Mopti region, Katiba Macina is the region's most feared terrorist group. Privileged target of the French military, it is this jihadist group that was to recover the hostages released last Friday by the men of the COS (commando Hubert). Macina is also the name of a former Islamic state / jihadist Fulani who dominated the region in the nineteenth century in western Mali, on the northern border of Burkina Faso and south of Mauritania. In the Peul imagination, the "Empire of Macina" (also called the "Diina", of which Mopti was the capital, represents the golden age, the time when the Peul were not dominated minorities or marginalized by nation-states of sedentary but domineering ...

The Macina empire, like the jihadists of today, launched jihad aimed at "purifying" the Muslim societies of the region, and the ultra-radical Islamic teaching then dispensed in this empire was central.
Because of this theocratic "imperial" inheritance, the Fulani live themselves as the proponents of a "pure Islam", in the wake of the Sufi brotherhood Qadiriyya, very rigorous, which makes them very permeable to Salafist propaganda current. It should also be remembered that the Macina empire, like the jihadists of today, launched jihads intended to "purify" the Muslim societies of the region, and that the ultrarumenic Islamic teaching then dispensed in this "empire" was central. Today, it is clear that jihadist propaganda, by advocating rebelling against states in place supposedly "accomplices" of the West, is better received in Fulani circles than anywhere else. The leader of the Macina Group or "Macina Liberation Front", Hamadoun Koufa, is himself a preacher who was once moderate and suddenly radicalized in contact with the Islamist-terrorist group Ansar Dine. He alone embodies the Fulani-African civilizational roots of Sahelian jihadism: his irredentist and neo-califal objective is to restore the old Fulani "empire" of "Macina". The group has been operating in various municipalities in the Gao region since 2014-2015. He has risen since March 2017, he joined the GSIM, an alliance of multiple factions including Ansar Dine, branches of AQIM, fighters of the deceased Mujao and MNLA Berber Mali, in short most of jihadist groups that have been threatening the Sahel since 2012.

Its ideologues are nostalgic of the Fulani empire and slavery, which applies Sharia law to the letter and terrifies the non-Fulani and non-Muslim populations of Africa. From this "predator" point of view, he had nothing to envy to Daesh or al-Qaeda. The Fulani Malian jihadists are therefore nostalgic for this Fulani empire ("jihadist" before the time), in the manner of Daesh ideologues wanting to "restore" the Arab Caliphates (Umayyad and Abbasid) in Syria and Iraq. Katiba Macina is today the jihadist group that perpetrates the greatest number of terrorist attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and the Beninese border. And soon perhaps also in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Guinea Conakri and Equatorial, then wherever Peul tribal groups are permeable to the ideological contagion of Fulani irredentist jihadism. And this organization is all the more formidable because it is not only terrorist, but has, like Daesh in Syria-Iraq or the Taliban in Afghanistan, ethno-clanic and popular bases in Peul.

"Peul-neo-imperial Islamism" or the endogenous roots of African jihadism
Unlike Islamically correct commonplaces, jihadism in sub-Saharan Africa as elsewhere is not just an external "graft" that mixes separatist agendas, smuggling networks and Salafist preachers formed in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. As we have seen with Katiba Macina, the nostalgia for Islamist "empires" of the past mobilizes entire tribes. Recall that, from the eighteenth century, this "proto-jihadism" has plagued in the current sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel: the theocratic state of Fouta-Djalon in Middle Guinea in the eighteenth century; the Fulani Empire of Macina in Mali between 1818-1862; and the Muslim theocratic empire of Sékou Amadou Barryi, then Sékou Amadou, which conquered Timbuktu, without forgetting the Sokoto Empire in the nineteenth century in Nigeria. Another misconception consists in making believe that the current violence and intolerance of jihadist groups is totally foreign to the Sufi and maraboutic Islam of the past, admittedly often in conflict with the Salafists.

In fact, despite oppositions, Fulani jihadist theocratic kingdoms were often built by Sufi and maraboutic religious leaders imbued with this local Islam wrongly considered "tolerant" just because it is not always "orthodox". Today, the Katiba Macina aims to secede the Malian state in its stronghold in central Mali, like the Berber-Arab jihadists in the north of the country. Katiba Macina has carried out massive attacks, including the attack on the Byblos hotel in Sévaré and the Radisson in Bamako, which killed 22 people in November 2015. In total, the group was responsible for the death of some 100 people. of Malian soldiers. Regarding the case of the four hostages released by the COS commandos, we know that it would be Burkina Faso jihadists linked to Daesh who tried to hand over the hostages (French, South Korean and American) to Katiba Macina, affiliated to al-Qaeda. Since 2018, its leader Hamadoun Koufa was given for death following a targeted strike by the French military operation Barkhane, but this death was refuted by jihadist leaders and even by the French authorities. Katiba Macina remains for the moment one of the most formidable threats for the countries of the region and for the French army present on the spot.

The "Fulani question"
In Africa there are about 40 million Fulani (also called Fulbe, Halpular, Fulani or Fellata, depending on the country), present in about fifteen countries in the Sahel and West Africa, Cameroon, Guineas, or still in the Central African Republic and Sudan. The Fulani from Fouta Toro settled in the region of Mali and Burkina Faso in the late 14th century. At all times, throughout Africa, conflicts have arisen between sedentary farmers and generally nomadic pastoralists (including Fulani) who practice transhumance and are accustomed to predation / raiding and slavery. The former have consistently accused the latter of ransacking their crops with their herds, while they complain of cattle theft, difficult access to water points or obstacles to movement.

Since 2010, however, conflicts have become both more numerous and more deadly, in a triple context of global warming that pushes nomads towards the Christian South, Salafist fanatization imported from Saudi Arabia, and separatist agenda on background of weak states weakening. The craze of many Fulani groups for jihadism, which has been vividly seen since 2015 in central Mali, is the combined result of the imperial Islamic history of Fulani empires and a frustrated identity coupled with social exclusion phenomena. -economic and supposed or real policies.

Admittedly, not all Fulani are Islamist, let alone all jihadists. And it is clear that the amalgamation between Fulani and jihadists - at the root of summary retaliation against Peul minorities by the sedentary non-Fulani powers - is exploited by jihadist groups for the purpose of recruiting. This does not prevent that there is a real nostalgia for the Fulani empire of Macina, and that this irredentist and supremacist nostalgia serves as justification identity and religious jihadism and actions of predation (raids, hostage, raids, massacres of "infidels" or "apostates".

Even then, non-Muslims were massively targeted and persecuted.
It should be remembered that in the 19th century, the Fulani Islamic empire of Marabout Sékou Amadou, from the Barry clan, extended over part of present-day Mali, from Timbuktu to the north, to Mossi country in the south, from Mauritania. in the east to the region of Mopti with Hamdallaye as capital, and that he practiced permanently looting "unfaithful" goods and the enslavement of the vanquished. Any "Sufi" he was training (because all Sufi brotherhoods are not "tolerant" unlike the commonplace Islamically correct), do not forget that Sékou Hamadoun declared a pitiless jihad to conquer his empire "Diina". Although created by a follower of the Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood, the empire was governed by an extremely rigorous application of the sharia in the highly orthodox and anti-Christian rite of Malikism (dominant in the Maghreb and Muslim Africa), allowing current jihadists to move their totalitarian neo-imperial enterprise for a sort of "return" to a "pre-colonial" past. Remember also that at the time already, non-Muslims were massively targeted and persecuted. The Bambara, Soninke, Bwa, Dogon and non-Muslim Fulani (who remained animist, therefore "pagan" populations were victims of terrible jihad and raids and became "riimaybe", "serfs" of the Fulani Muslims ...

Chatham House: Security reform suggestions

• End Security votes
•Create US-style inspector general offices tasked with exposing corruption, revealing waste and protecting whistle-blowers.
• Consolidate the numerous security agencies and integrate each of them into either the military and police.
• Consolidate Military support functions by creating joint combat support agencies that could help the force improve its dismal ratio of non-combat elements to frontline units.

Blue3k:
These people should stop feeding the beast snd just go kill them theirselves. The millions of naira can buy ak-47s and vest. Sitting on your hands waiting on state is not an option when they're robbing and kidnapping your women and children. Just form a millitia go to their hideout or kill them when they come to collect.

These bandits are bullies. They run away to neighboring states when the army gives them the slightest resistance. If you start blowing their heads off they'll bother someone else.