A federal court in Nigeria has declared the Lakurawa group a terrorist organisation, a designation that allows the military to use maximum force against a group that has been an emerging threat to security in the northwest.
Judge James Omotosho issued the order on Thursday, proscribing the sect and banning any individual or group from participating in its activities, Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi's office said in a statement on Friday.
Nigeria is already fighting several armed groups, including Boko Haram and its offshoot the so-called Islamic State West Africa Province and several bandit gangs.
The recent emergence of the Lakurawa group, which operates mainly in the northwestern Kebbi and Sokoto states, has exacerbated insecurity in Nigeria's north.
It emerged after the July 2023 coup in Niger from herding communities along the Nigeria-Niger border who had gradually turned militant.
The group was blamed for an attack in November in Kebbi state that left at least fifteen people dead and several others wounded after stealing livestock.
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