as the nigerian state retreats, armed groups rise

bandits, insurgents, and militias are taking over where the government has disappeared.

Last week, gunmen stormed Gobirawa Chali, a remote mining village in Zamfara State, northwestern Nigeria. They arrived on motorcycles and opened fire. At least 20 people were killed, some while working, others while asleep. There was no response from authorities. No arrests. No word on who sent them. For locals, it was just another night of violence in a region where attacks like this have become routine.

This wasn’t an isolated massacre. It was part of a broader pattern. Across Nigeria, patterns of violence point to a shrinking state presence and the growing influence of armed groups stepping into the void.

Across northern Nigeria, and increasingly across the country, armed factions are filling the vacuum left by a vanishing state. What began with Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast has metastasized into bandit militias in the northwest, ethnic militias in the Middle Belt, separatists in the southeast, and criminal networks that span nearly every region. The government isn’t

just losing ground, it’s stepping back. And others are stepping in.

Bello Turji, a notorious bandit leader in Zamfara State, poses with his armed allies. He is one of the most feared figures in Nigeria’s northwest insurgency.