Nasarawa State governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, has warned of a new terrorist group, ‘Wulowulo”, reportedly a splinter faction of Boko Haram, emerging in the North-Central region.
The governor, who is the chairman of the North-Central Governors’ Forum, (NCGF), sounded the alarm during a security stakeholders’ meeting in Lafia, urging coordinated action to curb the group’s infiltration and rising cases of kidnapping in parts of the state.
He said; “As you are aware, this new group of Wulowulo, which is a splinter group of Boko Haram, is beginning to surface in the North-Central zone.
According to reports a web search for Wulowulo did not turn up any result other than the two Boko Haram’s earlier splinter groups – Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which emerged as a result of disagreement among the leadership of the terror group.
Sule warned that the emergence of the group will further compound the security situation in the zone, which was already heightened by the activities of the Lakurawa terrorists group in part of Kwarra State.
“As you are aware, this new group of Wulowulo, which is a splinter group of Boko Haram, is beginning to surface in the North-Central zone.
“The Lakurawa group is now a big problem in Kwara. Originally, they were somewhere around Kebbi and Sokoto States, but now they have become prominent in Kwara, one of the states in North-Central”, he stated.
He charged security agencies to work towards halting the advance of the new group into Nasarawa State, while promising more logistics to aid the operation.
The interface and the alarm came about five days after attackers killed eight villagers in an early morning raid on Nindama community in Kokona local government area of the State.
He said the interface was necessary in view of security reports indicating that criminals from other parts of the country were trying to infiltrate the North-Central zone.
The governor also expressed worries over the spate of kidnapping in parts of the state, especially in metropolitan local government areas like Lafia and Karu.
He admitted that previous strategies have not been sufficient to curb the menace and called for a new formula to tackle it.
“Kidnapping has remained constant, especially in Lafia Local Government. It has moved from other places and has become more prominent in Lafia and parts of Karu local government area. That is the reason why I believe very strongly that whatever we are doing in the past may not be enough. We need to find another formula around it”, Governor Sule stated.
“We need to ensure that we take certain steps not to allow it at least to come into our state”, he stressed.
