Katsina massacre confirms strategy collapse

The bloodbath in Gidan Mantau, Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State, is a clear-cut definition of Nigeria’s security failures. At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 when gunmen stormed a mosque and nearby homes, while around 60 others were abducted. For hours, the attackers operated without hindrance, forcing women into […]

The bloodbath in Gidan Mantau, Malumfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State, is a clear-cut definition of Nigeria’s security failures. At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 when gunmen stormed a mosque and nearby homes, while around 60 others were abducted.

For hours, the attackers operated without hindrance, forcing women into sudden widowhood and leaving scores of children orphaned. That such a tragedy could unfold in silence, with security operatives failing to respond until the attackers vanished, is a new low in the country’s war against banditry.

It is more painful considering that the tragedy in Gidan Mantau, like many others in neighbouring Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, Benue, Plateau, among other states across the North, is gradually fading from public discourse.

Clearly, the incident contradicts the much-hyped claims of success against terrorists in the North. The truth is that bandits and terrorists still enjoy operational freedom, ambushing locals and even security operatives with devastating efficiency. They strike, plunder and retreat to their hideouts, occasionally pursued but rarely neutralised. Strikingly, Nigeria is facing a worsening emergency that cannot be papered over with rhetoric.

The president himself recognised the depth of the crisis when, on Tuesday, September 2, he told Governor Dikko Umar Radda and other Katsina stakeholders at the Presidential Villa that: “I have directed all the security agencies to energise further, to look at the strategy again – additional deployment of air drones – and if they have to shift movement in between Katsina and other boundary areas, they should do so…”

Earlier, Governor Radda had sought greater logistical and operational support, pointing out that his state alone could not carry the burden. His plea was sobering, as obviously, the situation in Katsina is outpacing existing structures; and without new measures, more communities risk being wiped out.

Specifically, leaders of Katsina must also look inward. On the same day President Tinubu was meeting with them, thugs attacked a separate meeting of concerned elders back in Katsina. Dr Bashir Kurfi, the convener of the Katsina Security Community Initiative lamented: “We were attacked by government thugs simply because we spoke up on insecurity. This division only emboldens the bandits.”

Although the Katsina State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Dr Bala Salisu Zango, denied involvement in the despicable onslaught and expressed empathy to the organisers and participants, we strongly note that security is local and solutions must be locally driven. If leaders remain divided due to self-serving reasons, the enemy will continue to win as is happening almost everywhere.

The Gidan Mantau massacre also underscores the dangers of peace deals struck from a position of weakness. As Daily Trust had reported, several Katsina local government areas, including Safana, Jibiya, Kankara, Musawa, Batsari and Danmusa, have signed such agreements with bandits, yet attacks continue unabated, especially in other local government areas that have not signed the purported peace deal, which, if care is not taken, will boomerang.

The reason is simple: These “truces,” not minding who is championing them, might be seen as providing temporary relief, but they do not dismantle the criminal networks. Instead, they give terrorists time to regroup and rearm.

The most recent interception of gunrunners along the Ingawa-Karkarku village road in Katsina with a General Purpose Machinegun, 1, 063 rounds of 7.62 ×39mm AK-47 ammunition, and 232 rounds of 7.62 ×69mm PKT ammunition calls for a serious retrospection.

The gory sight of the cache of arms is a revalidation of the fear that organised and well-armed groups are waging war on the Nigerian state.

Indeed, Nigerian security operatives must now admit that the bandits they confront are no longer the ragtag gunmen of yesterday. They are clearly strategic and forward looking.

A new security architecture is, therefore, imperative, not only in Katsina but across the North. Specifically, contiguous states in the North-West must rise above political affiliations and act together. They must speak with one voice in asking for, not begging for more troops, intelligence and technology. Beyond that, empathy must guide their leadership style. They should remain in their various states and confront the monster.

Governors cannot continue to insulate themselves in fortified convoys, living more in Abuja or outside the country while their citizens are slaughtered.

The Gidan Mantau tragedy, where lives were cut short, families destroyed, and futures erased, should be a turning point. The memory of that day should haunt those in authority until they act. This is more pertinent in view of the fact that the victims died in a reprisal attack after members of the community had earlier attacked the bandits, killing many of them. This was in response to the calls by those in authority on Nigerians to defend themselves against the bandits.

Nigeria owes the victims more than condolences. They deserve justice, protection and the assurance that their deaths will not be in vain.

Most importantly, our leaders must separate security from politics and admit openly and collectively that we are facing an emergency.