Ansaru Terror Group Tightens Grip On Kogi With 8 Cells, Dignitaries Pay For Safe Passage
A growing network of terrorist cells linked to the Ansaru terrorist group is in parts of Kogi State, with at least eight active groups operating in the region, including three positioned strategically between Obajana and Kabba, security sources said.
Security sources revealed that the deteriorating situation along the Obajana-Kabba corridor has become so precarious that dignitaries and high-profile travellers now resort to unofficial arrangements through security agencies to secure safe passage along those routes.
“Ansaru, a terrorist group, has eight terrorist cells in Kogi State, with three located between Obajana and Kabba,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters. “Dignitaries now pay through security agencies to get permission to travel along those routes.”
According to sources, even more alarming is the emergence of what is now believed to be the largest terrorist camp in Nigeria, located in Niger State—just under 93 kilometres from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“The biggest terrorist camp in Nigeria is now in Niger State, less than 93 kilometres from Abuja,” a source said.
The camp’s proximity to the nation’s capital raises serious national security concerns.
Ansaru, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram with reported ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), has long been designated a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government and international bodies. The group is known for targeting civilians, security personnel, and critical infrastructure.
Security analysts have repeatedly called for urgent government action to neutralise all threats from terrorists and other non-state actors and secure affected areas.
Meanwhile,’ attempts to contact the police spokespersons for Kogi and Niger states, William Ovye Aya and Wasiu Abodun respectively, for comments on the development were unsuccessful.
In March, reported that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had accused the Nigerian government, led by President Bola Tinubu, and state governments of tolerating or failing to effectively respond to violent attacks carried out by nonstate actors who justify their actions on religious grounds.
In its latest report, USCIRF stated that various militant groups, including Islamist extremists and Fulani militants, had targeted religious communities across Nigeria with devastating consequences.
In its annual report released in March 2025, USCIRF also urged the U.S. State Department under the Trump administration to designate Nigeria, along with Afghanistan, India, and Vietnam, as additional CPCs.
The report states, “In 2024, the conditions for religious freedom in Nigeria remained poor.
“Federal and state governments continued to tolerate attacks or fail to respond to violent actions by nonstate actors who justify their violence on religious grounds. These actors include Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS, also known as Boko Haram) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).”
“Bandit groups also participated in attacks against religious communities as well,” the report noted. “Violent Islamist groups and some Fulani militants sought to impose a singular interpretation of Islam on individuals and communities in their areas of operation, regardless of these individuals’ or communities’ own religion or belief.”
The report highlighted several specific incidents of religiously motivated violence in 2024.
It noted that in January 2024, suspected members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) insurgent group killed 14 people in Yobe State, including a local pastor from the Church of Christ in Nigeria.
The report further noted that in May 2024, al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansaru gunmen reportedly kidnapped 160 mainly Christian children and killed eight people in Niger State before later releasing the children.
