ABUJA, Nigeria — Jihadi fighters who have long operated in Africa’s volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighbouring Benin, a report released on Wednesday revealed. This marks the latest trend in the militants’ movements towards wealthier West African coastal nations.
The extremists, believed to be linked to al-Qaida, crossed over from Benin’s hard-hit northern region and settled in Kainji Lake National Park, one of Nigeria’s largest parks, according to a report by the Clingendael Institute, which has extensively researched the Sahel.
Residents near the park informed The Associated Press that Kainji Lake National Park, home to one of West Africa’s rapidly declining lion populations, has been closed for over a year due to security threats from armed groups attacking neighbouring villages and roads.
“Before, it was like a tourism centre, but now people find it difficult to pass through there,” said John Yerima, who lives near the park in New Bussa town. “You cannot enter that road leading to the park now. It is seriously dangerous.”
The Clingendael Institute’s report highlighted that the security situation at the 5,300-square kilometre (2,000-square mile) park in Niger state and along the nearby border with Benin is worsening. “It is a much more explosive situation than we had anticipated,” stated Kars de Bruijne, one of the report’s authors and a senior research fellow at the institute.
The report noted that the “sustained presence” of armed groups in the park signifies a connection between Nigeria’s homegrown extremists, who have launched a decade-long insurgency in the northern region, and al-Qaida-linked militants from the Sahel. This presence allows extremists to claim significant success in both countries, already plagued by deadly attacks in recent years.
The Sahel region, known globally for violent extremism, is experiencing a worsening security crisis as military coups topple democratic governments. The new military governments, struggling to contain the violence, are increasingly severing ties with traditional security partners like France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for support.
In northwestern Nigeria, security analysts have warned that the region’s remote territories, rich in mineral resources and high in poverty levels, present an opportunity for jihadi groups to expand. These groups, including the Islamic State, which has a presence in the Lake Chad basin, could exploit the region’s governmental absence for expansion.
“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 stated.
Conservationists also worry that the presence of armed groups in Kainji Lake National Park could further threaten the remaining lion populations, already endangered by climate change and poaching. “The security situation has become top of the list when it comes to the concerns about the lion populations in Nigeria,” said Stella Egbe, senior conservation manager at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation.
The Clingendael report stated it is unclear what the Sahel extremists’ motives are in the park or their relationship with other armed groups. However, security analysts suggest the park offers logistical opportunities and influence amid booming illegal trade across the porous border.
“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 the Hudson Institute whose work in northwestern Nigeria was cited in the report.
While jihadi fighters present a significant threat, banditry remains the major security issue across many villages in Nigeria’s northwest. Although bandits and jihadi fighters have occasionally collaborated in attacks, these partnerships, though rare, have proven to have “very deadly consequences,” according to Barnett.
