A deadly bandit attack in northern Nigeria has highlighted the risks facing local communities that have turned to negotiating directly with armed gangs after years of violence and failed security efforts by the central government.
Residents of Doma town in Nigeria’s Katsina state said local leaders reached a peace deal with gunmen last September, raising hopes that attacks would stop and farmers could return safely to their fields.
The agreement initially held. But on February 3, armed men from the same group stormed back into the town, witnesses said, moving house to house and shooting residents. At least 21 people were killed, ending the six-month truce.
Local officials and sources said similar agreements have been pursued in about 15 districts across Katsina, as well as in three neighbouring northern states — Kaduna, Sokoto and Zamfara — as communities grow increasingly frustrated with persistent insecurity.
Security analyst Kabiru Adamu, a former Nigerian intelligence officer, said many residents appear to have lost faith in the government’s ability to protect them and are instead seeking protection through deals with bandits.
Nigeria’s military, Katsina police, and a spokesperson for the president did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Defence Minister Christopher Musa warned last month that such negotiations undermine national security efforts and conflict with the government’s policy of not negotiating with bandits.
Nigeria has also said it has been working with U.S. intelligence and forces, following criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump over attacks by Islamist militants. The United States carried out strikes on what it described as terrorist targets in Sokoto on Christmas Day, but residents say violence has not eased in northern communities.
In Doma, the local peace deal reportedly involved allowing herders to graze cattle near the town in exchange for an end to attacks and the release of kidnapped villagers. Sources said the agreement also included restrictions on weapons and military-style clothing, and that cash was paid to the armed group.
The truce reportedly collapsed in mid-January after the gunmen accused residents of killing one of their members, triggering retaliatory raids.
Survivors of the February 3 attack described extreme brutality. One resident, Ramatu Muhammed, said she watched gunmen kill her son despite her pleas. Another survivor, Aliyu Abdullahi, who lost family members in the attack, said the gunmen “didn’t spare any man they saw.”
The massacre has intensified fears that fragile local peace efforts could unravel across Nigeria’s violence-hit north.