Terror in Tsafe: Bandits Kill 11 in Zamfara

GUSAU — A surge in violent banditry has left eleven residents dead in the Ware community of Tsafe Local Government Area, Zamfara State. Armed men reportedly stormed the village on Thursday, opening fire on unsuspecting locals in an afternoon of carnage. Amiru Ahmad Keta, the lawmaker representing Tsafe West in the State House of Assembly, confirmed the recovery of eleven bodies on Saturday. He revealed that survivors used wheelbarrows to transport the deceased to Keta village for burial under harrowing conditions. Consequently, the actual death toll remains uncertain as the attackers continue to occupy the vicinity, chasing away recovery teams attempting to retrieve more victims.

The security situation in the Tsafe axis deteriorated further on the Keta-Danjibga road during a high-stakes escort mission. A Nigerian Army Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was decimated after encountering an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted along the high-risk route. Following the explosion, the troops were forced to withdraw, allowing the bandits to return and set the damaged armored vehicle ablaze. Furthermore, this tactical use of explosives highlights an alarming evolution in the weaponry deployed by non-state actors in the North-West. While it is true that the military remains active in the region, no security agencies have accessed Ware village since the Thursday invasion.

The neighboring Kebbi State faces a simultaneous offensive from the notorious Lakurawa group, which recently raided seven villages. On February 18, gunmen attacked the Bui district in the Arewa northern region, killing dozens of residents who attempted to resist. In a related development, the Kebbi Police Command confirmed that Mamunu, Awasaka, and Dan Mai Ago were among the razed settlements. Granted, locals mobilized to defend their ancestral lands, but they were reportedly overwhelmed by the superior firepower of the trans-border criminal gang. Notably, the attackers made off with large herds of cattle, reinforcing the theory that resource control drives these systematic raids.

Significantly, the inability of the military to secure the Tsafe-Danjibga corridor has paralyzed commerce and humanitarian access in Southern Zamfara. Above all, the destruction of heavy military hardware suggests a thinning of the tactical advantage previously held by the Nigerian Armed Forces. Subsequently, the Zamfara State Government has called for an emergency review of the theater’s operational strategy to counter the IED threat. Although the administration has recently inaugurated local vigilante groups, they remain poorly equipped to face the mechanized brutality of the bandit cells.

Finally, the focus of the national security council must shift toward a permanent, rather than reactive, presence in these rural flashpoints. Therefore, the military must re-establish control over the Keta-Danjibga bypass to restore the shattered confidence of the local population. As a result of these coordinated attacks, the North-West “security arc” faces its most significant existential threat since the 2024 offensive. The quest for peace in Zamfara depends on a decisive response to the evolving tactics of a now-mechanized insurgency.