The federal government has unveiled a five-point strategy to tackle banditry, terrorism and illicit arms trafficking, while restoring peace and strengthening community resilience in Sokoto State.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu disclosed this on Saturday in Sokoto at a security brainstorming session organised by the Sokoto Advancement Forum (SAF).

The forum collaborated with the Centre for Peace Studies, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, to examine strategies for coping with insecurity.

Mr Ribadu, represented by Zakari Usman Mijinyawa, Director of Legal Services, Office of the NSA, outlined five priorities for addressing the security challenges.

These include intelligence-led operations, inter-agency and cross-border cooperation, community trust and early-warning systems, restoration of agricultural livelihoods, and prevention of criminal recruitment.

He said the federal government, under President Bola Tinubu, was strengthening military operations, intelligence gathering, border security and law enforcement through coordinated efforts.

The efforts involve security agencies, state governments and local communities.

Mr Ribadu said the National Crisis Management Doctrine, being advanced by the Office of the NSA, provided a framework for coordinated government and societal action.

On intelligence-led operations, he called for sustained security deployments around vulnerable settlements, forest corridors and border communities.

He identified State Forest Guards and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Agro-Rangers as important partners in securing vulnerable areas.

The NSA also advocated cross-border intelligence-sharing to deny criminal groups safe havens and improve cooperation among the armed forces, intelligence agencies, police and civil defence.

He stressed the importance of early-warning systems connecting local governments, traditional rulers and communities in hotspots, including Sabon Birni, Isa, Tangaza and Goronyo.

Mr Ribadu urged traditional rulers, religious scholars, women and youth groups to build public trust, counter extremist narratives and misinformation, and discourage ethnic hostility.

He emphasised the need for professional policing, impartial law enforcement and respect for human rights.

The NSA identified protecting farms, rural routes, markets, schools and health facilities as another priority, urging security planners to consider agricultural calendars.

He said security interventions should also support the safe and voluntary return of displaced families.

Mr Ribadu added that expanding access to education, vocational skills and livelihood opportunities was essential to preventing recruitment into criminal groups.

He said any disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme must comply with the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The NSA stressed that reintegration must not replace justice or reward violence.

He disclosed that the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons had recovered 5,449 firearms and destroyed 1,419 illicit weapons in recent nationwide operations.

Mr Ribadu said cumulative destruction since 2022 had exceeded 19,000 weapons.

He described Operation Fansan Yamma as a key framework for coordinating security operations across the North-West.

The NSA noted that banditry in Sokoto had evolved beyond cattle rustling and kidnapping into a complex threat with transnational links, including those associated with Lakurawa.

Earlier, SAF chairman, Mohammad Wali, said attacks had occurred in 21 of Sokoto’s 23 local government areas.

He added that more than 1,100 people were reportedly kidnapped in the state during the 12 months to June 2026 and cited an August 2026 attack in Tsamaye, Sabon Birni, in which at least 21 people were killed and 37 abducted.

Mr Wali commended federal and state security interventions, including Operation Fansan Yamma and the state’s Community Guard Corps.

SAF vice-chairman Riskuwa Shehu cited SBM Intelligence data documenting 4,722 abductions in 997 incidents nationwide between July 2024 and June 2025.

(NAN)