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Sokoto State is no doubt the seat of the Caliphate and a bastion of Islamic scholarship in Nigeria. It has a long history of cultural and religious resilience in West Africa. However, in recent times, this historic and peaceful state has grappled with escalating security threats from non-state actors, made up mostly by armed bandits, terrorist affiliates, and emerging jihadist factions. The security landscape is dotted by recurrent attacks, kidnappings, and displacements that undermine governance, economic productivity, and social cohesion. The security challenges of the state seem to be more of the problems associated with Nigeria’s broader northwest security hurdles, which are exacerbated by porous borders with Niger and Mali and the collapse of democratic governance institutions in those countries. In broader context, Sokoto suffers the effect of insecurity in the Sahel, which has fostered the rise of multiple non-state actor groups fighting to control large swathes of ungoverned space. This reality has led to the proliferation and influx of arms, fighters, and illicit trade across the borders into Sokoto state. The 23 local government areas of Sokoto, which span arid savannas and dense forests, also provide an ideal terrain for non-state actors to operate with impunity.
Non-state actors operating in parts of Sokoto state have been identified to include breakaway bandit gangs and syndicates, many of who are herders who had taken to armed criminality and now lord themselves over vast rural expanses where they extort the people through forced taxation. There are further indications that these gangs may also have evolved from opportunistic cattle rustlers who sacked villages and displaced residents after stealing their cattle. Banditry, characterized by cattle rustling, kidnappings for ransom, and village raids, remains the dominant security challenge in Sokoto state. However, jihadist incursions by groups like the Lakurawa have compounded the hurdle. The Lakurawa, which initially acted like a vigilante outfit against bandits but eventually morphed into an ISIS-Sahel affiliate, infiltrated Sokoto and Kebbi states from Niger and Mali. In its May 2025 report, Amnesty International claimed that between May 2023 and May 2025, several people, predominantly women and girls, were either killed or abducted, across local government areas bordering neighbouring countries of Niger and Mali.
These security challenges have impacted food security as farmers are displaced and homes are destroyed while children are forced away from school. This has also fostered a humanitarian challenge in the state. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates 7.8 million Nigerians, 80% of who are women and children, require aid due to violence. It estimates that Sokoto is impacted by this figure. It is also reported that disruption of farming in Sokoto, Katsina, and Zamfara states by non-state actors is directly responsible for food insecurity which is now said to affect about 33.1 million people nationwide.
However, Governor Ahmad Aliyu has shown that he is capable of managing the situation and leading his people through the challenge. He inherited a state that was reeling from over a decade of bandit dominance, and recognising the implications of Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which domiciled security management and control with the federal government, he has effectively navigated these constitutional limitations by strengthening federal agencies while innovating state-level mechanisms against insecurity. His efforts are framed within his nine-point agenda, and have blended kinetic operations, community engagement, and socio-economic palliatives. Through these, the Ahmed Aliyu administration moved swiftly and invested billions of state financial resources in equipping federal security forces and making them battle-ready. For instance, he donated over 170 patrol vehicles and 1,000 motorcycles to the Police, Army, Air Force, and the Department of State Security working in Sokoto. In September 2025, he made an additional donation of 10 Toyota Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles to the agencies. These significant contributions have helped the security management systems push back on insecurity in the state.
The governor has also upwardly reviewed allowances for security personnel in volatile areas to enhance morale and operational reach. In May 2025, he committed to operationalizing an Air Force base, and amplifying aerial surveillance. These moves also address terrain challenges, which enable rapid response in remote forests areas. Before that in March 2024, the governor inaugurated the Sokoto State Community Guard Corps (SSCGC), which has turned out to be a strategic move in efforts to contain the security situation in the state. The SSCGC comprised of local recruits and is equipped with 20 Hilux vans and 710 motorcycles as at September 2024. It focuses on intelligence gathering and grassroots patrols in local government areas.
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To complement this, Governor Aliyu also revived the Sokoto State Hisbah Command, which leverages religious authority for moral policing and conflict mediation. He further empaneled a Special Security Committee, chaired by Deputy Governor Idris Gobir, who coordinates these outfits with federal agencies. Aliyu has regularly emphasised that informant disruption is also necessary as part of efforts to manage the challenge. Through this, the governor insists that bandit collaborators be also treated as bandits while also urging imams to sermonise against complicity. He had also warned politicians against unauthorized interventions, which may by an alibi towards politicising security.
Governor Aliyu has also used palliatives to mitigate banditry fallout. In July 2024, he spent N20 million and 8,000 rice bags as aid to victims of banditry in Isa local government area. In September 2025, N69.75 million and 210 rice bags reached Wurno and Rabah residents as palliatives to ameliorate their pains after a security breach. He had also engaged in broader initiatives like rural road networks and solar streetlights in all 23 council headquarters to improve surveillance and commerce. Governor Ahmed also used the 2025 budget of Sokoto state to foster a major frontal attack on insecurity. With about 66% of the budget, which represents N349 billion of N527 billion, allocated to capital projects, the governor declared his intentional action in prioritising security-linked infrastructure like the revived 38MW Independent Power Project, which will light-up the state and boost tech-driven surveillance infrastructure like public close circuit camera.
His efforts are paying off. Community guard collaborations recently neutralized 15 bandits while the SSCGC intelligence networks have successfully thwarted kidnappings, with fewer security breaches in parts of the state. The Hisbah moral suasion approach has also helped to shrink informant networks, which is directly linked to the decline in bandit attacks in many local government areas. This, in itself, has encouraged farmers to return to farms leading to a boost in agricultural output. These actions led to a surge in Value Added Tax earnings for the state which surged to N10.88 billion in 2025 (12th nationally). It also signaled economic revival from stabilised commercial activities. The enrollment of more than 800,000 children in basic education is a testimony that Aliyu’s approaches to solving the security challenges are paying off as the enrollments indicate safer access to schools.
His colleagues at the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Nigerian Governors’ Forum, reference him as an advocate of unified strategies in tackling insecurity, which creates a tactical synergy between federal forces and state operatives. These efforts reflect a holistic doctrine of the governor which emphasises empowering enforcers, engaging communities, and eroding criminal incentives. As a fact, through empowered agencies, community guards, and empathetic interventions, Governor Aliyu has not only confronted non-state actors but transformed security into a catalyst for development. And the positive indicators are fewer attacks, revived economies, and renewed hope. However, total victory demands federal reinforcements in border patrols, intelligence fusion and regional diplomacy against spillovers from the Sahel region.
