Governor Nasir El-Rufai says terrorists are consolidating their grip on communities in the state with a parallel government and permanent operational base in the North-western state.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, Rufai disclosed this in a late July memo sent to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The terrorists belonging to Ansaru al-Musulmina fi Bilad al-Sudan, are believed to have moved to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State in 2012 when they broke away from Boko Haram.
The terrorists that formed Ansaru were said to be responsible for some of the high-profile attacks claimed by Boko Haram before the split.
In El-Rufai’s late July memo obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, he lay bare how the terrorists had infiltrated and dominated communities and formed “a parallel governing authority,” exercising control over social and economic activities and dispensation of justice in the area.
He said the terrorists had advanced in their plans to make Kaduna forest areas their “permanent operational base” for the North-west region, citing a “series of intelligence reports.”
“Observed movement patterns and intercepted communications of migrating terrorists have shown a clear interest in setting up a base, with the stretches of forest area between Kaduna and Niger states strongly considered,” he wrote.
As the political activities towards the 2023 general elections pick up steam, the terrorists, El-Rufai told Buhari, have promulgated a law to ban residents from participating.
“The insurgents enacted a law in the district, banning all forms of political activity or campaign ahead of the 2023 elections, especially in Madobiya and Kazage villages,” the governor wrote.
The Ansaru terrorists are known to have an extremist ideological posture against democracy and secular authorities.
The ban on political activities, the governor said, followed a recent wedding ceremony involving the terrorists.
“According to actionable intelligence, members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Musulmina Fi’biladis Sudan (aka Ansaru) hibernating in Kuyello district of Birnin Gwari LGA recently conducted a nuptial ceremony during which they married two yet-to-be-identified female residents of Kuyello village,” El-Rufai wrote.
“The ceremony was attended by various Ansaru members and witnessed by residents of the area. After the marital rites, insurgents in attendance reportedly conveyed the brides to the dreaded Kuduru forest, in the same district.”