Bandits insurgents collect taxes northern Nigeria communities
Retired Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd), a former Chief of Army Staff and ex-Minister of Interior in Nigeria, has issued a grave warning about the security situation in the country’s northern region. Speaking at the First Media and Security Summit in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, he stated that the crisis has reached a point where armed bandits and insurgents are no longer simply attacking civilians: they now control entire communities, collect taxes, and impose laws.
Dambazau described how communities in states such as Katsina, Borno, Zamfara and Kano have been ravaged by years of herder-farmer conflicts, terrorism and banditry. He said the accumulated impact is devastating: thousands killed, millions displaced, widows and orphans multiplying, farms lost, cattle rustled all while state responses remain insufficient.
He specifically drew attention to the fact that in some localities the non-state armed groups now function in parallel to government: they impose “levies” or “taxes” on farmers and residents, and they issue directives and laws to govern daily life in villages under their control. This effectively erodes the sovereignty of the state in those areas.
To address the problem, Dambazau called on the governors of northern states to establish ministries of mineral resources and work alongside federal agencies to better harvest local natural resources, expand revenue, reduce poverty and thereby undercut the economic vulnerabilities that fuel insecurity. He also recommended restoring the authority of traditional institutions, reviving agriculture, and tackling the high number of out-of-school children as part of a holistic solution.
The gravity of Dambazau’s remarks underscores how deeply insecurity has taken root in parts of northern Nigeria. The transition from intermittent attacks to systemic control of communities by armed groups signals a shift from criminal mayhem to proto-governance by non‐state actors.
