Nasir El-Rufai has warned President Muhammadu Buhari about the rate at which terrorists are consolidating their grip on communities within the state with the aim of establishing a “permanent operational base” in the state.
The governor disclosed this in a memo directed to President Buhari in July 2022, according to Premium Times.
The terrorists are believed to have moved to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state in 2012 when they broke away from Boko Haram, according to the memo.
It was also learnt that the terrorists who formed Ansaru group were responsible for some of the high-profile attacks claimed by Boko Haram before the split.
Such attacks included the United Nations (UN) building bombing of August 2011, and the kidnap of some foreigners.
According to the sources, Ansaru pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in 2020, and is responsible for many of the high-profile abductions as well as armed attacks on the police in Kaduna state.
In 2021, 1,192 people lost their lives in Kaduna state due to banditry, terrorism, communal clashes, violent attacks, and reprisals.
Similarly, in the first six months of 2022, 645 people lost their lives in such circumstances across the state, according to the government.
In the memo which El-Rufai sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, he made mention of how the terrorists have infiltrated and dominated communities, adding that they have formed “a parallel governing authority,” exercising control over social and economic activities and dispensation of justice in the state.
He further noted that the terrorists have advanced in their plans to make Kaduna state their “permanent operational base” for the North-west region.
“Observed movement patterns, and intercepted communications of migrating terrorists have shown a clear interest in setting up a base in Kaduna state,” El-Rufai wrote.
“Terrorists are interested in establishing a permanent operational base in Kaduna state.
“Even as the political activities towards the 2023 general elections pick up steam, the terrorists have promulgated a law to ban residents from participating.
“The insurgents enacted a law in different districts of Kaduna state, banning all forms of political activity or campaign ahead of the 2023 elections, especially in Madobiya and Kazage villages,” the governor added.
The Ansaru terrorists are known to have an extremist ideological posture against democracy and secular authorities.
It was learnt that the census enumeration exercise could only hold in two of the 11 wards that form Birnin Gwari in 2021, due to the threat of banditry and terrorism in Kaduna state.
The ban on political activities, the governor said, followed a recent wedding ceremony involving the terrorists.
El-Rufai, in the memo, further noted that, “According to actionable intelligence, members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Musulmina Fi’biladis Sudan (also known as Ansaru) hibernating in Kuyello district of Birnin Gwari local government area recently conducted a nuptial ceremony during which they joined proclaimed two yet-to-be-identified female residents of Kuyello as a couple.
“The ceremony was attended by various Ansaru members and witnessed by residents of the area.
“After the marital rites, terrorists in attendance conveyed the brides to the dreaded Kuduru forest, in the same district.”
In the area of adjudicating disputes, Mr 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.
“Multiple reports also exist that bandits and terrorists are demanding for protection levies and similar taxes from farmers and communities, in return for permission to cultivate their fields.”
Revenues from taxes and levies are a major source of financing and sustenance for terrorists, according to terrorism researchers.
It is worth noting that the Kaduna state governor, wrote a similar ‘confidential’ letter to the president in 2016, warning that the Buhari administration was losing momentum just about a year after coming to power.
