Niger: Terrorists Occupy Homes of Displaced Residents, Cultivate Their Farms

Five months after the residents of Allawa Community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State fled their homes due to the withdrawal of soldiers, bandits and terrorists have reportedly taken over the community and are now engaging in farming activities.

An Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in Erena told Daily Trust that some individuals were sent back on Friday to check if it was safe to return and plant crops before the rainy season ends. However, they found terrorists occupying their homes and cultivating their farmlands.

He mentioned that the terrorists used the fertilizers the residents had bought before fleeing on their crops and had also destroyed and burned down some houses.

“We went to check our homes to see if it was safe to return, but to our surprise, the terrorists are currently occupying Allawa. We saw them; they have cultivated most of our farmlands. They used the fertilizers we acquired for this farming season before we were displaced in April.

“They have destroyed some of our houses and occupied the remaining ones. Our house was among those they destroyed. It is traumatic,” he said.

Daily Trust reported that hundreds of residents of Allawa Community fled on April 25, 2024, after the soldiers stationed in the community were withdrawn.

Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed (rtd), confirmed the withdrawal to Daily Trust in April, stating that the decision was an administrative move by the military authorities to restrategize on how to defeat terrorists in the area.

“The whole thing is about administrative arrangements by the military to re-strategize and return in full strength,” Mohammed said in a text message to our correspondent.

Efforts to get the Commissioner to respond to the current development were unsuccessful. His number was not connecting at the time our correspondent called him, and he had not responded to a message sent to his phone.

Daily Trust recalls that soldiers pulled out of the community after two military officers and a vigilante lost their lives in an ambush.

The deceased were attacked while responding to a distress call from Roro, Karaga, Rumace, and other farming communities.

Two days after the deadly ambush, a military vehicle stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on Allawa-Pandogari Road, leading to casualties.

Residents told our correspondent that since the withdrawal of troops, Allawa and several other communities have been taken over by two different terrorist groups who have now cultivated their farmlands and are living in their houses.

Ibrahim Muhammed Gando Allawa, Chairman of the Allawa Eagle Eye Forum, confirmed to Daily Trust that residents had not returned home due to fear since the withdrawal of troops. He said some people who fled in April were in Erena, Gwada, Kuta, Minna, Pandogari, and other places.

“They (terrorists) are now sleeping comfortably in our rooms. They even have the audacity to plant crops in our farmlands, forcing the people of neighboring villages under their control, using the fertilizers we left behind,” he said.

He stated that no fewer than 15 communities have been under the control of the Layi and Kacalla-led terrorist groups.

He listed the communities to include Allawa, Jalako, Bassa, Kurebe, Madaka, Lukope, Wutare, Maganda, Gyaramiya, Samunaka, Tegina-kabata, Gagahuna, Ƙugu, Makuba, Unguwar-Usman, among others.

He also mentioned that more than 12 other communities, including Sabon Gari, Kwaki, Chukuba, Erena, Unguwar Matazu, Bataro, Iburo, Kudodo, Mai-komo, Unguwar-Madi, Ajatayi, and Ajayi, among others, have been under the control of the Dogo Gide-led bandit group.

Residents have called on the state and federal governments to take decisive action to dislodge the terrorists from their communities to enable them to return home and continue farming.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said security agencies were not relenting in their efforts to ensure displaced persons return home.

“We are working with the military in line with the government’s effort to ensure that all displaced victims return to their villages, as counter-insurgency operations are ongoing in those areas,” he said.

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