SOKOTO, Nigeria — At least six residents have been killed in Baidi village, Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State, after gunmen stormed the community late Wednesday, in an attack residents and local officials said bore the hallmarks of the Lakurawa network operating along Nigeria’s northwestern border.
Residents said the attackers arrived under cover of darkness and opened fire indiscriminately, killing six men and triggering a fresh wave of displacement as families fled into surrounding communities. Funeral prayers were held on Thursday, with videos and photographs circulating on social media platforms, including Facebook, as mourning relatives buried the victims.
Local government sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed the fatalities and said security agencies had been alerted, although they acknowledged that many residents remain fearful of further raids. The sources appealed for calm while urging the authorities to reinforce security deployments in the area.
Efforts to obtain official confirmation from the Tangaza council chairman, Isa Salihu, were unsuccessful, while the Sokoto Police Command spokesperson, Ahmed Rufai, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing.
Tangaza, which borders the Republic of Niger, has become increasingly exposed to armed violence due to porous crossing points that facilitate the movement of fighters, weapons, and stolen livestock. The area is frequently described by residents and security analysts as a corridor for cross-border retreat when armed groups come under pressure from Nigerian forces.
The latest killings come against the backdrop of heightened counterterrorism activity in Sokoto. In late December, the United States carried out airstrikes in the state targeting Islamic State-linked militants, with reporting noting operations around the Tangaza axis as part of efforts to degrade armed group sanctuaries near the border.
While Lakurawa has been described locally as an armed network that evolved from Sahel-linked pastoralist elements, analysts say the group’s influence has grown through coercive “taxation,” intimidation of communities, and violent enforcement of its authority—dynamics that have further complicated security operations in the northwest.
