In parts of Kajuru Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State, Nigeria, and in some neighbouring communities across Southern Kaduna, Nigerians are living under the control of armed bandits.
These ordinary citizens are not living as kidnapped victims or temporary captives awaiting to be ransomed. They are residents of the communities that have entered forced “agreements” after repeated attacks by the bandits.
According to a detailed firsthand account shared by journalist Reuben Buhari, this has been the reality for multiple villages for years. 
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One man who managed to leave one of these communities described the conditions the people face. His community is reportedly in its third year under this arrangement. He is married with five children, yet while he was there, his wife no longer belonged solely to him.
Bandits sleep with the women of the village whenever they choose, and sometimes in the presence of their children. If the man protests, he can be killed. When a blanket is left in front of a house or a stick is dropped nearby, it serves as a signal: the bandits will spend the night with the wife or daughter while the husband sleeps outside.
The daily life of the people is tightly controlled. According to Buhari, the residents of the community may farm, but one-quarter of the harvest is claimed by the bandits. Phones are forbidden (though a few find ways around the rule). New clothes, torchlights, machetes, and new motorcycles are off-limits as the bandits simply take what they want. Only old motorcycles are tolerated, and even the petrol for them is often sold by the bandits themselves.
Youths are sometimes forced to accompany the gunmen on raids or kidnappings; refusal brings the threat of being shot. For Christians, church services on Sundays can only happen if the bandits are not present. Schools and primary health centres have largely collapsed because teachers and health workers have fled.
Leaving is extremely difficult. It took the man who narrated these living conditions one week to successfully leave without being caught. Those caught attempting to escape with belongings risk being shot.
Men who need to travel to markets outside the “captured” zone must leave their wives and children behind as hostages.
Women may be allowed to go to uncaptured villages for purchases, but if they fail to return, the remaining family members face the ultimate penalty.
Buhari’s account notes that more than 20 communities in Kajuru LGA alone, about 30 in Kachia LGA, and dozens in Chikun LGA are living under variations of these harsh conditions.
This is not an isolated story. The Northern part of Nigeria has suffered numerous attacks over the past decade. Southern Kaduna has endured years of attacks, mass abductions, and displacement.
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The reports of forced pacts, land pressures, and the breakdown of normal community life have continued to surface. Families have continued to live in constant fear and children have been witnessing sexual violence too. The economic activities in these places have reduced to survival under extraction and the providers of basic services have fled for their dear lives, leaving the communities in a state of lack.
Nigerians should not have to choose between death by attack and life under armed occupation. Unfortunately, with the bandit rule in Kajuru, Kaduna, this is the reality of many communities.
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