BREAKING: New Terrorist Group ‘Mahmuda’ Emerges in North-Central Nigeria, Kills Over 15 Vigilantes in Deadly Attack

BREAKING: New Terrorist Group ‘Mahmuda’ Emerges in North-Central Nigeria, Kills Over 15 Vigilantes in Deadly Attack

 

 

 

 

A newly identified terrorist group known as “Mahmuda” has emerged in North-Central Nigeria, wreaking havoc across communities near Kainji Lake National Park.

 

According to credible local sources, the group is responsible for a deadly attack on Wednesday that left more than 15 vigilante members and villagers dead in Kemanji, a community in Kwara State.

 

Residents in the region are reeling from escalating violence attributed to the Mahmuda group, which has been launching coordinated assaults across rural communities in Kwara and Niger States.

 

The group, believed to be a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, has reportedly occupied the Kainji Lake National Park—a vast reserve straddling Kwara and Niger states—for over five years, exploiting its dense forest cover and law enforcement vacuum.

 

“They call themselves the Mahmuda group. Their leader has been issuing threats via voice notes to surrounding communities. They kill, kidnap, and demand ransom,” a local source told SaharaReporters.

 

The terrorists have entrenched themselves in remote villages, including Kemaanji, Tenebo, Baabete, Nuku, and Nanu in Kaiama Local Government Area, as well as villages in the Yashikira District of Baruten LGA in Kwara. They also maintain strongholds in Babana and Wawa districts of Niger State’s Borgu LGA.

 

Eyewitnesses report that the group imposes strict control over local populations, forcing herders to pay grazing dues (zakah), taxing farmers, and kidnapping residents. They have banned alcohol and tobacco sales, imposed a parallel justice system, and even threatened local herbalists suspected of aiding vigilante resistance.

 

“People are living under the rule of these militants. They pay to farm, to graze, and some are forced to work on the group’s farms,” a resident said. “They even preach Islamic ethics and instruct the community to report all disputes to them, not to Nigerian authorities.”

 

Community members allege that the Mahmuda group capitalizes on ungoverned spaces and has possibly formed alliances with loggers and illegal miners within the park, generating income from illicit activities.

 

Local accounts suggest the group was previously forced out of Mokwa LGA in Niger State and migrated through various forested areas before establishing dominance in the Kainji Lake region.

 

Security experts and locals believe the group has sophisticated weaponry and intelligence networks, making it difficult for state forces to dislodge them. Some locals also allege complicity or willful neglect by higher authorities.

 

While the full identity and external links of the Mahmuda group remain under investigation, a recent audio recording from the group’s leader claimed alignment with moderate Islamist principles, further suggesting ideological ties with Boko Haram’s splinter factions.

 

The worsening security situation in and around Kainji Lake National Park underscores the growing threat of terrorism in Nigeria’s rural heartlands and the urgent need for a coordinated government response.