Nigerian Defence Headquarters has confirmed the presence of a brand new terrorist group, ‘Lukarawas,’ that has began infiltrating the Northwest area, intensifying the insecurity already confronted by native residents.
This was disclosed by Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations, throughout a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, seventh November 2024.
Maj.-Gen. Buba defined that the ‘Lukarawas’ group started working in northern Nigeria following the current political instability within the Republic of Niger.
The coup in Niger led to a breakdown of safety cooperation between Nigerian and Nigerien forces, permitting the Lukarawas group to use border weaknesses.
“The terrorists took benefit of the gaps in cooperation between each nations and exploited tough terrains to make incursions in distant areas in some Northwestern states to unfold their ideology,” Buba acknowledged.
Based on him, these incursions have primarily impacted northern Sokoto and Kebbi states, the place the group entered from the Niger Republic and Mali axis.
Buba revealed that native communities initially provided assist to the Lukarawas group, mistakenly believing it had peaceable intentions.
“The group was accommodated by the locals who initially thought that the group meant properly for them,” he famous. Nonetheless, this help unintentionally facilitated the group’s institution in these areas.
In response to this Buba famous that the Nigerian navy has intensified Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations to find and neutralize the group’s members.
The Defence Headquarters identified that the Lukarawas group is exploiting huge, under-governed territories in Northwest Nigeria to evade detection and have interaction in actions that threaten native populations.
“The phobia group has continued to reap the benefits of the huge under-governed areas to cover and evade troops in addition to harass the locals,” Maj.-Gen. Buba defined.
