Governor Nasir Elrufa’i of Kaduna state has written president Buhari that terrorists in his state are now running a parallel government and a ‘permanent operational Base’ as the region has become a hub for the men underworld. The information was sighted in a memo written by the Governor to Mr. President in July Memo warning that urgent steps have to be taken to frustrate them. The terrorist wing belonging to Ansaru al-Musulimina fi Bilad al-Sudan, but popularly called Ansaru was formally a rebel faction of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist that is believed to have relocated to Birnin Gwari forest, Kaduna state after a breakaway.
It was learned that some major attacks that were formerly claimed by Boko Haram were carried out by Ansaru, for example, the attack on the UN building in 2011 that left plenty of people dead and the kidnap of some foreigners.
Ansaru pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM in the year 2020, and that pushed the group to the terrorist list of the United State.
According to Kaduna state statistics, Ansaru in 2021 alone was responsible for killing 1,192 at a different time in a reign of terror from banditry to kidnapping, communal clash, and reprisals. In the first six months of 2022, 645 people lost their lives in such circumstances across the state, the government said.
Contained in El-Rufa’is memo, he detailed how the terrorist has succeeded in infiltrating communities to an extent of forming a ‘parallel governing authority, saying the terrorist are now exercising full control of economic and social activities in the affected communities.
He added the terrorist are now strategizing how to make the Kaduna forest their permanent operational base for the North West region of the country based on an intelligent report he received.
The Governor wrote, “Observed movement patterns and intercepted communications of migrating terrorists have shown a clear interest in setting up a base, with the stretches of forest area between Kaduna and Niger states strongly considered,”
2023 election threatened
As the 2023 general election is around the corner with politicians having commenced consultation for alignment and re-alignment towards election time, Ansaru has rolled out laws regulating the villagers from participation in the election.
El-Rufa’i wrote, “The insurgents enacted a law in the District, banning all forms of political activity or campaign ahead of the 2023 elections, especially in Madobiya and Kazage villages,”
It was learned that Ansaru and democracy are arch enemies to each other; this was demonstrated by the terrorist in a trial census currently ongoing, 9 out of the 11 wards in Birnin Gwari was not accusable to workers.
He added that based on credible intelligence, Ansaru hibernating in the Kuyello district of Birnin Gwari LGA recently conducted a nuptial ceremony during which they married two yet-to-be-identified female residents of Kuyello village,” the ceremony attended by the terrorist en mass.
Terrorist Law on Revenue
In the area of settling disputes, El-Rufai said the terrorists “fined one Mu’azu Ibrahim, a resident of Kuyello community, the sum of One Million Naira for selling plots of land without the consent of the owners.”
The Governor laments that with the diminishing of government power in the said communities, the villagers are now left to the mercy of terrorists, as the dreaded men are now extracting revenue from locals.
“Multiple reports also exist of bandits and terrorists exacting protection levies and similar taxes from farmers and communities, in return for permission to cultivate their fields,” El-Rufa’i added.
According to terrorist researchers, revenues from taxes and levies forced on ungoverned spaces – created by the failure or limited capacity of the government – are a major source of financing and sustenance for terrorists.
Similar to the one described by the Governor in Kaduna, terrorists in the lake chard region of the northeast have been making lots of revenue from fishing activities and levying pastoralists.
When contacted, the governor declined to comment on his memo saying it was not for public consumption.
