Odita Sunday 
Ribadu Unveils Security Plan to Tackle Banditry, Reclaim Rural Communities in Sokoto
By Odita Sunday
The NSA calls for coordinated intelligence, tighter border security, community engagement and protected farming corridors to counter banditry and emerging extremist threats.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has outlined a coordinated security strategy to tackle banditry in Sokoto State, warning that armed criminal groups have evolved into territorial threats capable of undermining national security, agriculture and community life.
Ribadu said the Federal Government was strengthening military operations, intelligence coordination and border security while integrating community-based interventions into a broader response designed to prevent attacks, reclaim vulnerable areas and restore livelihoods.
He stated this in a keynote address delivered on his behalf by Barrister Zakari Usman Mijinyawa, Director of Legal Services in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), at a brainstorming session on insecurity in Sokoto on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
The session, organised by the Sokoto Advancement Forum (SAF) in collaboration with the Centre for Peace Studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, focused on preventing and containing banditry while strengthening community resilience.
According to the NSA, insecurity in Sokoto has moved beyond cattle rustling, highway robbery and kidnapping, with armed groups increasingly imposing illegal levies on farming communities, restricting movement and attempting to control agricultural activities.
He warned that the emergence of Lakurawa, designated a terrorist organisation by the Federal Government, had raised concerns about the growing links between profit-driven banditry and extremist networks operating across the Sahel.
Ribadu also highlighted the security risks along Nigeria’s 120-kilometre frontier with Niger Republic, noting that armed groups exploit porous borders and forest reserves to establish safe havens and sustain their operations.
The NSA said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had intensified security operations in the North-West through the restructuring of joint military operations under Operation FANSAN YAMMA, the expansion of the Air Component in Sokoto, improved troop welfare and the procurement of military equipment.
He said security forces had reclaimed contested areas, rescued hundreds of abducted citizens and neutralised high-profile criminal commanders, while paying tribute to military personnel and local auxiliary volunteers who had lost their lives in the fight against insecurity.
However, Ribadu acknowledged persistent operational challenges, including poor intelligence-sharing among security agencies, inadequate early responses to warnings from rural communities and the failure to establish a lasting government presence in some areas cleared of armed groups.
He explained that military operations alone could not guarantee lasting security if police presence, civil administration and economic opportunities were not restored in recovered communities.
“When troops advance to new operational sectors, armed cartels often re-infiltrate if civil authority, police presence, and economic livelihood systems are not immediately established behind them,” he said.
To address these gaps, he said ONSA was advancing the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD), designed to establish a coordinated, whole-of-government and whole-of-society response to security emergencies.
The doctrine provides for strategic coordination at the executive level, multi-agency cooperation through Joint Operations Centres and coordinated action among field units and first responders.
Ribadu outlined a coordinated framework for Sokoto that includes reclaiming ungoverned spaces, improving intelligence-sharing and countering narratives that deepen divisions among communities.
Under the first track, he said State Forest Guards and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Agro-Rangers would be integrated with military strike teams to improve ground presence and tracking capabilities in forest reserves.
He added that ONSA was working with the Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit and regional partners, including Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin, to disrupt cross-border arms-smuggling routes and the supply networks supporting armed groups.
The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons was also expected to intensify targeted operations to remove illicit weapons from circulation in the North-West.
The second track focuses on establishing a unified operational picture by bringing together intelligence from the Department of State Services, aerial reconnaissance from the Nigerian Air Force, border monitoring by the Nigeria Immigration Service and information from accredited local vigilantes and community hunters.
Ribadu said the aim was to ensure that warnings from vulnerable communities triggered coordinated responses before attacks occurred.
The third track centres on preventing the spread of extremist narratives, digital disinformation and ethnic hostility that could deepen divisions between pastoralist and farming communities.
He called for stronger partnerships with religious and community leaders to counter incitement and protect social cohesion.
Beyond military operations, the NSA proposed four priorities for translating the dialogue’s recommendations into practical action.
These include strengthening the role of traditional rulers and religious leaders in resolving disputes, particularly those involving land ownership and pastoral activities, before they escalate into violence.
He also called for the professionalisation of community defence networks, stressing that local hunters and vigilante groups must operate under clear legal oversight, established rules of engagement and proper vetting.
Ribadu said these groups possessed valuable knowledge of local terrain but must work within structures that prevent abuses and align their activities with conventional military and police command systems.
On agriculture, he advocated protected farming and harvesting corridors to enable farmers to return to their fields and allow rural markets to reopen.
He said security agencies, particularly Agro-Rangers and other civil security formations, should support the restoration of agricultural activities and the livelihoods that sustain rural communities.
The fourth priority involves transitioning from containing violence to post-conflict recovery through disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes for vulnerable youths drawn into criminality.
According to him, such interventions must comply with the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, while criminal leaders who continue to perpetrate violence must face decisive security action.
Ribadu stressed that the success of the dialogue should be measured by tangible improvements in people’s lives, including safer farming, freedom of movement and children’s ability to attend school without fear of abduction.
He said ONSA was awaiting concrete recommendations and an actionable implementation plan from participants, adding that the office was ready to incorporate the outcomes into national security coordination mechanisms and support the Sokoto State Government in delivering practical results.
The NSA urged stakeholders to strengthen cooperation among government institutions, universities, traditional authorities and local communities, describing their partnership as essential to achieving lasting peace and security in Sokoto State.
About the Author
