Abuja — November 11, 2025 | Dalena Reporters
Retired Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau has issued a stark warning about the security situation in Northern Nigeria, stating that armed bandits and insurgent groups have effectively taken over parts of local governance by collecting taxes from civilians and making their own laws in communities under their control. Speaking at a security forum in Kano, Dambazau described the phenomenon as proof of “parallel government” largely outside state authority.
He said that in many rural areas, residents are forced to pay levies to criminal-armed groups — described as “extortion by another name” — in order to farm, access their homes or avoid kidnapping. He underscored that these groups not only collect revenue but also dictate behaviour, adjudicate disputes and impose rules such as movement restrictions or dress codes. Dambazau remarked: “We have two governments in some of the northern states… our churches are all over the country. There are places today where the bandits collect taxes. And you must give the tax if you want your wife to be protected from rape.”
The retired interior minister and former army chief added that this takeover of governance is a crucial reason why insecurity remains entrenched. According to him, the rise of such de-facto mini-states erodes public trust in formal institutions and makes security interventions far more complex. He said: “Today, it is no longer just about killing kidnappers — it is about disabling a system that operates like a state.”
Dambazau called on the federal and state governments to recognise this shift and respond with both force and governance reforms — not simply military deployments. He argued that the recovery of territory must come with restoration of civil order, economic renewal and local justice systems so that citizens have no reason to turn to insurgent-imposed “taxation” and rule-making.
While neither official confirmation nor subsequent government response was noted at the time of his remarks, Dambazau’s comments reinforce a growing view among security analysts that stability in Northern Nigeria depends as much on restoring local governance as on defeating armed threats.