A new report by the Clingendael Institute has raised serious security concerns in Nigeria. The report details the movement of jihadi fighters, believed to be linked to al-Qaeda, from Africa’s Sahel region into northwestern Nigeria.
These militants are said to have crossed the border from Benin and established a presence within Kainji Lake National Park, one of Nigeria’s largest national parks and a critical wildlife reserve. The park has reportedly been closed for over a year due to security threats posed by armed groups.
“Before, it was like a tourism center (but) now, people find it difficult to pass through there. You cannot enter that road (leading to the park) now. It is seriously dangerous,” John Yerima who lives near the park in New Bussa town said.
Kars de Bruijne, the report co-author and senior research fellow at Clingendael, emphasizes the gravity of the situation.
“The security situation at the 5,300-square-kilometer (2,000-square-mile) park in Niger state and along the nearby border with Benin is getting out of hand and is a much more explosive situation than we had anticipated,” he said.
Experts believe it could be the first sign of a connection between the Islamic State-backed insurgency in northern Nigeria and al-Qaeda-linked militants from the Sahel.
This connection, de Bruijne warns, could provide a platform for both groups “to claim large-scale success” in regions already plagued by violence.
The Sahel region, known for its rampant extremism, has seen a further deterioration in security as military coups destabilize democratic governments.
These governments, struggling to contain violence, are increasingly turning to Russia for support, straining relations with traditional partners like France and the United States.
Security analysts have long cautioned about the vulnerability of northwestern Nigeria. Remote areas with rich mineral resources and high poverty levels offer a potential breeding ground for jihadist expansion – both from the Sahel and the Islamic State group active in the Lake Chad basin.
“A link between Lake Chad and the Sahel is a major opportunity for al-Qaida and the Islamic State to boast about their profiles as leaders of global jihad,” the report warned.
Conservationists are also alarmed. Stella Egbe, a senior conservation manager, fears the armed groups pose a new threat to Nigeria.
“The security situation has become top of the list when it comes to the concerns about the lion populations in Nigeria,” she said.
The Clingendael report acknowledged the unclear motives of the Sahelian extremists and their potential relationship with existing armed groups in the park.
Security analysts, however, see this move as an opportunity for the jihadists to establish logistical bases and exert influence within the region’s thriving illegal trade networks.
“The Sahelian jihadis potentially can try to use northwestern Nigeria as a place for fundraising for logistics and to try to influence the jihadi groups there as part of their own competition,” said James Barnett, a fellow at Hudson Institute whose works in northwestern Nigeria were cited in the report.
Jihadists From Sahel Have Infiltrated Northwest Nigeria, Report Says is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
