Kebbi's Porous Borders Under Siege

By Kebbi Daily News on Sat Oct 18 2025

Fuel Smugglers Nabbed in Bunza Amid Lakurawa Terror Surge: Kebbi's Border Chaos Threatens National Security

Bunza, Kebbi State – October 18, 2025 – In a dawn patrol along the Bunza-Kabba axis, Nigeria Customs Service officers halted a tanker brimming with 35,725 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), valued at ₦21.4 million, en route to Niger Republic. The October 8 interception, part of the intensified Operation Whirlwind, exposed not just economic leakage but a deeper peril: the fuel's potential to power Lakurawa terrorists rampaging through Bunza Local Government Area (LGA). Just weeks earlier, on September 22, suspected Lakurawa militants stormed the bustling Bunza Market, gunning down five traders, abducting three women, and torching stalls in a 45-minute orgy of violence. As Kebbi's porous 500-km border with Niger becomes a sieve for both contraband and carnage, this dual crisis underscores a toxic synergy—smuggling funds terror, and terror shields smugglers—imperiling Nigeria's northwest flank.

The smuggling bust unfolded swiftly. Acting on intelligence, Kebbi Command's joint team with Operation Whirlwind—coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)—seized 14,750 litres worth ₦8.85 million in one haul and 20,975 litres at ₦12.58 million in another. The tanker, concealed among routine haulers, was diverted from local depots, exploiting the ₦200-per-litre price arbitrage fueled by Niger's subsidies post-Nigeria's 2023 fuel removal. Accompanying contraband included 444 wraps of cannabis sativa, 143 mini-sacks of donkey meat (prohibited for health risks), second-hand clothing, and foreign rice, totaling ₦109.6 million in evaded duties. Comptroller Mahmoud Matawalle, newly appointed in September, paraded the seizures at a Birnin Kebbi briefing, vowing, "These saboteurs drain our veins; we'll plug every leak." The PMS faces subsidized auction at ₦10,000 per 25-litre jerry can, channeling proceeds to the Federation Account, while illicit items were handed to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).

Operation Whirlwind, rolled out in 2024 amid subsidy-induced arbitrage, has notched ₦1 billion in nationwide seizures since May, with Kebbi's September revenue jumping 36% to ₦25.6 million via bolstered Kamba border checks. Yet, Bunza's role as a smuggling artery persists. The LGA's riverine terrain—Niger River islands shrouded in forests—facilitates nocturnal crossings, where tankers offload to canoes under moonlight. NMDPRA data pegs annual losses at ₦500 billion, inflating domestic transport costs by 30% and starving depots during scarcity spikes. In Bunza, a sorghum and rice breadbasket feeding 250,000 residents, this jacks up farmer inputs by ₦50,000 per hectare, eroding margins in a state where 72% scrape below the poverty line.

Interpreting the smuggling's underbelly reveals its terrorist lifeline. Lakurawa, a jihadist splinter proscribed as terrorists in January 2025, thrives on such diversions. Emerging in 2024 from ISWAP's fringes, the group—blending Salafi ideology with Fulani grievances—has metastasized across Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara, exploiting border voids left by Boko Haram's northeast focus. Their September 22 Bunza Market raid, arriving on motorcycles chanting jihadist slogans, wasn't random: Witnesses spotted jerry cans strapped to bikes, hinting at fuel-siphoned ops. X posts from locals decried the assault as part of "rampaging everywhere," with gunmen in fatigues looting food staples amid economic despair. This followed a July 12 Zogirma ambush in Bunza, where Lakurawa slaughtered three policemen, seizing rifles and a patrol vehicle—fuel likely procured via similar tankers.

The group's ascent isn't organic; it's a governance vacuum's spawn. Analysts at the Hudson Institute trace Lakurawa to 2024 Niger-Nigeria border clashes, where displaced herders radicalized amid cattle rustling and land feuds. By October 2025, Kebbi's terror ledger reads 150+ deaths, 50 abductions, and 5,000 displaced, with Bunza claiming 20%—rural schools shuttered, women traders (60% of cross-border informal economy) trekking bandit trails. September's rustling wave saw police nab a Lakurawa suspect in Bachaka, Bunza, recovering 10 cows from a 68-head herd stolen August 20—yet such wins feel pyrrhic against a 25% yearly attack surge, per the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Poverty (72%) and youth joblessness (40%) recruit mules; one X thread lamented, "Terrorism consumes more Muslims here—Lakurawa's hundreds in Kebbi alone."

Economically, the fallout cascades. Bunza's ₦200 billion ECOWAS trade artery—rice to Niamey, fabrics from Benin—clogs with fear, slashing output 15% and spiking garri prices 25% amid 33% national food inflation. Flood-terror interplay worsens it: September's La Niña deluges flooded escape routes, aiding raiders while drowning 2,000 hectares of crops. Women-headed homes, losing 40% more in lootings, face deepened precarity—abductions like the market trio's fuel early marriages or migration. Nationally, this erodes Tinubu's food security blueprint; unchecked, predictive models forecast ₦100 million monthly trade dips by Q1 2026, with abductions up 20%.

Responses blend resolve and reticence. Governor Nasir Idris dispatched 200 troops post-September raid, but locals slam delayed alerts—vigilantes clashed with gunmen September 23, per X videos. Operation Hadarin Daji, the military's northwest hammer, downed 20 Lakurawa in August, yet intelligence silos persist. Matawalle's border tours aim to sync Customs with troops, while the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) probes enablers—rumors swirl of officials tipping tankers for ₦50 million kickbacks. NEMA's relocation drives hit 30% compliance, hampered by distrust.

This interpretive crux demands rupture from reaction. First, tech infusion: ₦50 billion for Bunza riverine drones and NMDPRA trackers could halve diversions, as Kenya's borders attest (50% risk cut). Second, socio-economic firewalls: Idris's ₦2 billion youth agro-scheme must prioritize cooperatives for bulk fuel, deterring recruitment—sims show 35% smuggling drop with jobs. Third, diplomatic thrust: Revive Nigeria-Niger pacts for joint patrols, curbing Sahel spillovers. Prosecute colluders ruthlessly; bounties for tips could yield 10x intel.

As October's harmattan dusts Bunza's markets, trader Fatima Aliyu rebuilds her stall, eyes scanning horizons. "Fuel thieves by day, life thieves by night—it's one beast," she says. The October bust signals vigilance, but without holistic strikes, Kebbi's borders risk becoming jihad's gateway. Nigeria can't afford half-measures; Bunza's siege is a siren for the federation.