Bandits don change style, now dem dey attack soldiers first before villages

The security situation in the North West is getting worse and the bandits are now operating like a well-trained army. Yesterday, BBC reported new tactics these criminals are using, and the level of planning involved is genuinely frightening. One of the most disturbing patterns is that the bandits now surround and attack security personnel before they even touch the villages, so nobody can come to the rescue when the real assault begins.

Take what happened at Kasuwar Daji in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State. The attackers first hit the soldiers stationed there, killing four of them, and only then did they enter the town, kill residents and kidnap over 50 people. The Nigerian Army is saying only one soldier and one police officer died while repelling the attack, but the residents and the reality on the ground tell a different story. In another attack on Tsamaye village in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State last month, the bandits opened fire on the security personnel inside the village and kept them pinned down while they went house to house killing people, stealing property and kidnapping residents.

And it gets even more sinister. They are now locking people inside their own houses and setting the buildings on fire. In one Sokoto village, six members of a single family burned to death after the attackers locked them inside. They are also planting landmines and IEDs on roads leading in and out of villages, which stops people from escaping and delays security forces from responding. The attacks on judges are particularly alarming. On 26 July, bandits kidnapped Kebbi State High Court judge Faruku Hassan in Bunza Local Government Area and are demanding N200 million ransom. Days later, armed men invaded a Sharia Court in Gwarjo village in Katsina State, firing gunshots and asking for Judge Mohammed Muktar. The security experts are saying these judicial attacks may not be about money but about intimidating the justice system itself. So my question is this, if the bandits can now coordinate attacks on military formations and courts, what is left that is truly safe in this country?