Sir: Armed groups, bandits and foreign jihadist elements from Mali, Niger Republic, Chad, Sudan, and Cameroon frequently operate in Nigeria. The crisis is heavily driven by deeply porous borders and the transnational movement of militant networks. Terrorist factions and bandits from the Sahel-most notably elements linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) and the relatively new Lakurawa group-have infiltrated northern Nigeria. These groups utilize ungoverned spaces and have been known to cross international boundaries, merging with local bandits and kidnapping syndicates.
The border areas of Nigeria are heavily affected by cross-border militants. Factions such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate across Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, making the entire basin a hotspot for violence. Many large-scale bandit cells operating in Nigeria’s northwest are composed of individuals from neighboring West African and Central African nations. For example, notorious militia leaders have commanded networks stretching as far as Mali, Senegal, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Economic Community of West Africa States must rise to eliminate transnational banditry in West Africa.
External recruitment of bandits and foreign armed groups into Nigeria is highly active, primarily fuelled by the country’s porous 1,287-kilometer northern border, the broader security vacuum in the Sahel region, and lucrative transnational criminal networks. Recently, about five men were arrested in Lagos who are nationals from Niger Republic, Chad and Sudan. Few days ago the court in Sokoto sentenced a Nigerien to death for banditry and killing of innocent Nigerians.
While traditional domestic ‘banditry’ in Nigeria’s Northwest and Northcentral regions initially emerged from localized farmer-herder conflicts, it has dramatically evolved into a transnational crisis. Foreign fighters and jihadist networks are increasingly embedding themselves within, or recruiting directly from, Nigerian criminals.
The Epicenter: The Northwest zone, particularly Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi states, remains the hardest hit by these non-state armed groups.
The Spread: While historically concentrated in rural areas, these networks have expanded into highways (e.g., the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan expressways) and urban centers to abduct prominent figures and travelers.
Weak border management and porous frontiers in the Sahel allow these groups to evade security forces, cross into neighboring West African countries to hide and smuggle small arms and light weapons into Nigeria.
Banditry is described as a multifaceted crime encompassing acts such as armed robbery, murder, rape, kidnapping, cattle rustling, armed attacks and raids targeting local communities. Perpetrated by groups defined as ‘highly fragmented’ and diverse in terms of their capabilities and degree of organisation, violence arising from banditry has increasingly become both more widespread and lethal, spreading from the Northwest to other regions and affecting remote villages, towns and cities.
In 2024, Nigeria Watch reported an increase in fatalities arising from rural banditry, cattle rustling and related government operations (1 452 deaths, compared to 892 in 2023), with most fatalities recorded in Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna In mid-2025, a further ‘significant surge’ in violence linked to banditry was reported, particularly across Niger, Katsina and Zamfara.
Early 2024 saw a rise in kidnappings for ransom across the country, including hundreds of abductions in various parts of northern Nigeria in February and March 2024. According to a February 2024 study by the Nigeria-based polling agency, NOIPolls, the prevalence of kidnapping was highest in the Northcentral zone, followed by the Southwest, Northwest and Southeast. Victims of kidnappings included villagers travellers, political figures large numbers of schoolchildren, IDPs and business people.
Knowing the ingredients of the problem can help in the quest to find an enduring solution.