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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Cell phones have been lifelines for residents in northwestern Nigeria who have relied on warning calls to avoid escalating bandit attacks.
But the recent government blockades on cell phones have cut off many rural residents and made them more vulnerable, local residents say.
The bandits – armed groups who pillage and often kidnap, rape and kill villages – are intensifying their attacks in the northwestern and central states of Nigeria. At least 2,500 people were killed in the northwestern and central regions in the first half of 2021, according to the U.S. State Department, which compiles daily media reports of such attacks.
The widespread banditry in the northwest is in addition to the Islamist extremist uprisings in northeastern Nigeria that have been going on for 10 years.
In response to the mounting violence, governors of five northwestern and central states have blocked cellular networks to prevent the outlaws from communicating with collaborators.
While the communications failure had some positive effects, it also hampered local communities, according to multiple interviews with residents, officials and security experts.
The telecommunications blockade was first imposed last month in the state of Zamfara for an initial two weeks. Cellular service has been restored in Zamfara’s state capital, but rural areas remain cut off. The states of Katsina, Sokoto, Niger and Kaduna have also banned cellular networks in recent weeks in areas where murders and kidnappings continue to be committed.
Authorities attribute the power cuts to helping them corner the bandits and freeing hostages, including more than 180 prisoners who were released in Zamfara earlier this month.
However, civilian kills have “intensified” in some areas since the phone blackout began, local officials told The Associated Press. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, more than 100 people have been killed in northwestern and central Nigeria in the past two weeks. Many other deaths have not been reported, some officials say.
“We are trapped,” Amina Al-Mustapha, a state legislator from the violent hotspot of Sabon Birni in Sokoto state, told AP.
“They attack our people every day and we have no way of talking to our people,” said Al-Mustapha. “Not a single village was not attacked … We are suffering now.”
At least 32 people were killed in the Munya region of Niger state earlier this month when a band of armed men stormed villages and ransacked them for hours without assistance.
The Munya region’s villagers were unable to send warnings about the attacks because of the telecommunications blockade, said Garba Mohammed, the region’s chairman. Police and other security agencies did not find out about the attacks until hours after the killings, he said.
Previously, communities received phone warnings and people could “run for their lives,” he said.
In addition to blocking telecommunications access, the northern states have also closed markets, imposed night curfews, restricted vehicle traffic, closed main roads and banned motorcycles in the struggle to restore order.
Nnamdi Obasi, Nigeria Senior Adviser to the International Crisis Group, told AP that the security situation in the Northwest has “deteriorated dangerously” and local economic activity is “stifling”, with Nigeria’s government and military being forced to “do something else”. ”
“It was clear that if the tide didn’t turn, we could move from what we call banditry to a large-scale insurrection,” he said. He added that the phone outage and other security measures are “a double-edged sword” that constrains the outlaws, but also cripples the economy and increases the vulnerability of the civilian population.
Since the big marketplaces are closed, farmers cannot sell their products. Banking via mobile phones has also been discontinued and ATMs no longer work, according to interviews with residents of the affected areas.
However, some believe that blocking telecommunications access is a good strategy. Bashir Shehu, a trader in Zamfara, said that although his business has declined as a result of the action, peace has returned to many areas and he can travel more safely.
Unfortunately, some gunmen have already found a way to bypass the blockade by using telecommunications networks in neighboring Niger, local authorities say.
It’s not clear when life will return to normal in Nigeria’s northwest and central states, government officials told AP they don’t know when the phone outages and other security measures will end.
Lasting peace will be difficult to achieve as Nigeria’s security forces are often outnumbered by bandits, as recently admitted Katsina Governor Aminu Masari. They also have more sophisticated weapons that were bought with ransom, Liberated Hostages said AP.
The phone outages should “end as soon as possible,” said Obasi of the Crisis Group, as part of the government’s efforts to “improve security presence and resources in the area … and address the humanitarian crisis.”
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