Just In: Tears as Bandits Gun Down Another Chief Imam in Sokoto, Details Emerge
- A chief imam and at least two others were reportedly murdered by bandits in Sokoto state on Wednesday, July 1, 2026
- Nigeria's insecurity crisis continues to worsen, with armed groups targeting several vulnerable communities
- The northwest zone of Nigeria, where Sokoto is located, has seen violent attacks, including raids on schools, in recent years, with some of the assaults blamed on armed groups
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering security matters in Nigeria and Africa.
Sokoto, Sokoto state - The chief imam of Talluje village in Bodinga Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto state was reportedly killed on Wednesday, July 1, when armed gangs known locally as bandits attacked Talluje and the neighbouring Chofi village.
Al Jazeera had reported on Nigeria's complex security crisis, highlighting how multidimensional threats severely impact vulnerable communities.
Source: Original
Sokoto: Bandits kill imam, others
According to residents, the rifle-wielding attackers entered Talluje and Chofi communities through Duma village, which shares a border with Tureta LGA, riding on motorcycles.
According to Daily Trust, the attack began at about 4:00 p.m., targeted the two communities in Danchadi district, and lasted for nearly two hours.
The deadly assault also claimed the lives of two other residents and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.
The incident brings to three the number of chief imams reportedly killed by terrorists in the prominent northwest state within the past few weeks.
Local sources disclosed that the assailants launched coordinated attacks on both communities simultaneously, shooting indiscriminately before fleeing with an unspecified number of rustled livestock.
The source said:
“The attacks started around 4:00 p.m. and continued until about 6:00 p.m.
"The bandits killed the Chief Imam of Talluje and two other persons whose identities have yet to be confirmed,” a community leader in Danchadi said.
He added that the attacks triggered mass displacement, forcing residents, mostly women and children, to flee on foot to safer areas in Danchadi and Bodinga town.
The source stated:
“As I speak, many people are arriving in our communities carrying their belongings after escaping from the affected villages."
Sokoto attack: Bandits rustle livestock
Another resident confirmed that the attackers also rustled a large number of livestock, although the exact figure could not be immediately verified.
Furthermore, a senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the attack and the killing of the chief imam.
The officer said:
“We have received reports of the attack and have mobilised our anti-kidnapping unit to the area because there are fears the bandits may return."
Read the X post of a northern stakeholder confirming the attack below:
When contacted, Ahmed Rufai, the spokesperson of the Sokoto police command, said he had not yet been briefed on the attack.
Source: Twitter
Analyst explains Nigeria's terrorism resurgence
Though violence has waned from the peak of Boko Haram’s mayhem in 2009, analysts have warned of a potential increase in attacks, especially in rural areas outside, or barely under, government control.
Meanwhile, Femi Bolaji, a Nigerian writer, told Legit.ng that the expansion of territory in which terrorist groups operate “matters because insurgencies are sustained not by ideology alone, but by terrain, supply routes, local economies, and the ability to move men and materiel through spaces where the state is weak or absent”.
Bolaji said:
“Violence in northern Nigeria is sustained by a combination of doctrinal extremism, chronic poverty, educational exclusion, and a state whose presence is often too limited to command confidence in the communities where armed groups seek recruits."
Read more on insecurity in Nigeria:
- US interference: Ex-military head of state breaks silence on what Donald Trump must do to Nigeria
- The Country of Particular Concern 'trap': What the US Senate got wrong about Nigeria’s crisis
- List of killed Imams and mosques attacked by bandits that led to significant loss of lives
Counterterrorism: Nigeria to include VDM in operations
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Christopher Musa, the Minister of Defence, said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was making deliberate efforts to include VeryDarkMan (VDM) and selected social media influencers in military operations across conflict-affected regions of Nigeria, enabling them to gain firsthand insight into the challenges and realities faced by troops on the frontlines.
General Musa emphasised that terrorism had become an increasingly complex threat requiring collective national action.
Source: Legit.ng
