2. Description of security situation per state
2.3 Kano state
IDPs
The total number of IDPs for Kaduna by Round 5, December 2020 was 89 629, an increase of 22 437 individuals (33 %) compared to Round 4, July 2020 (67 192 IDPs). Kaduna hosts 12 % of all IDPs in the North-Central and North-West Regions. Lere LGA hosted the highest number of displaced persons (23 666 persons or 26 % of all IDPs in Kaduna state).721
Returnees
No information was found on the number of returnees to Kaduna state. IOM does not collect any return data in the North-West and North-Central Regions.722
2.3.2.2 Actors
The main actors in Kano state’s conflicts, as recorded by ACLED, are unidentified armed groups and rioters.731 Cattle rustling is mostly carried out by large, ‘well-armed criminal groups’ mostly from bases in Falgore forest in Kano.732
2.3.3 Recent security trends and impact on the population
According to International Crisis Group, since 2011 but increasingly since 2014, ‘the North West has also suffered a surge of violence between pastoralists and allied armed groups frequently called
“bandits”, on one hand, and farmers supported by community and state-sponsored vigilantes, on the other.’733
2.3.3.1 Number of security incidents and fatalities
In 2020, ACLED reported a total of 12 security incidents (2 battles, 7 cases of violence against civilians, 3 incidents of riots) in Kano state, resulting in 6 deaths. The highest number of security incidents took place in Kano Municipal LGA. Of the 7 incidents of violence against civilians, 3 were attacks and 4 abductions.734
The evolution of the types of security events through the reference period, as well as the highest number of incidents by LGA is shown in the graph below. Other than the above-mentioned types of security incidents, 12 protests resulting in 2 deaths were reported during the reference period.735
731 ACLED dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2020, url
732 International Crisis Group: Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem, 18 May 2020, url, p. 10
733 International Crisis Group: Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem, 18 May 2020, url, p. 3
734 ACLED dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2020, url
735 EASO analysis PowerBI based on ACLED dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2020, url
Figure 12 Evolution of security events coded battles, explosions/remote violence, riots, and violence against civilians according to LGAs in Kano state in 2020, based on ACLED data736
No source was found reporting on civilian casualties, including deaths and injuries of civilians. The identified sources report solely on the number of fatalities and do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their reporting. The table below shows the number of violent incidents and fatalities, according to type of incident for Kano state in 2020, as recorded by ACLED.
Kano state Nr of incidents Nr of fatalities
Battles 2 1
Explosions/remote violence 0 0
Violence against civilians 7 5
Riots 3 0
Total 12 6
Table 6 Number of violent incidents and fatalities by type of incident in 2020737
From 1 January to 30 April 2021, ACLED reported a total of 3 security incidents (1 case of violence against civilians, 2 incidents of riots) in Kano state, resulting in 1 death.738
736 EASO analysis PowerBI based on ACLED dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2020, url
737 ACLED dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2020 to 31-12-2020, url
738 EASO analysis PowerBI based on ACLED Dataset, filtered on Nigeria, 1-1-2021 to 30-04-2021, url
2.3.3.2 Illustrative security incidents
On 2 March 2020, unknown armed men attacked shops in the village of Bagwai (Bagwai LGA), killed two people and injured at least one.739
On 4 March 2020, unidentified gunmen attacked a house in Sansan (Dambatta LGA) and killed three people.740
On 20 October 2020, a protest demonstration against police brutality by Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) troops (known as #EndSARS movement) in the Sabon-Gari area741 of Kano city (Kano Municipal LGA) turned violent when unidentified criminals armed with machetes and daggers attacked demonstrators, killing two and injuring ‘many’. They looted and burnt shops, cars, a church, and restaurants.742 The protest took place the day after a 17-year-old girl allegedly having been tortured to death by local police.743
2.3.3.3 State’s ability to secure law and order
Since 2000, 12 northern states amongst which Kano state, have re-introduced Shari’ah criminal law in their legal systems, applicable to Muslims only. Non-Muslims are not subject to Shari’ah Penal Code but they are so by ‘some of the statutory agencies such as the Kano State Censorship Board and hisbah’
(groups aimed at enforcing Shari’ah rules744). Trust in Nigeria’s state judicial systems is very low, and even non-Muslims sometimes turn to Shari’ah courts as these are faster, although also sensitive to corruption.745
Kano state has seen a proliferation of small arms available to gangs, cattle rustlers, Fulani rangers, which cannot be sufficiently addressed by the state police forces, according to the researchers Jibrin Ubale Yahaya et al. in a 2018 study. They added: ‘another issue that disturbs the security agencies role in fighting crime in Kano State is the engagement of political elite of providing arms to be given to various category youth to advocate and protect their political interest.’746
The Nigeria army has taken steps to increase its presence in the region and converted the Falgore forest into a ‘permanent training ground’ with three new operating bases.747
Kano state government has taken steps to reduce farmer-herder conflicts, according to Crisis Group.
In February 2020 it inaugurated an agro-pastoral project in order to develop pastoral communities, improve farm productivity, and tackle security issues.748
2.3.3.4 Road security
The Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road is notorious for kidnappings but also for the high number of dangerous accidents (nearly 5000 between 2017 and 2020). This is mainly due to the very bad state of the road, in particular in the Kaduna stretch, of which armed groups took advantage to attack and kidnap passengers for ransom. ‘At its height, the road had 10 kidnappings per day with 20 different groups
739 Vanguard, Gunmen kill 2, injure others in Kano village, 3 March 2020, url; Cable (The), Two shot dead in Kano, 3 March 2020, url
740 Punch, Three injured in fresh Kano gun attack, 5 March 2020, url
741 The Sabon-Gari (or Foreign Quarter) area is traditionally inhabited by the non-Muslim community. Nigeria, Kano State [webpage], n.d. url
742 Premium Times, #EndSARS: Protest turns violent as thugs, protesters clash in Kano, 20 October 2020, url
743 Vanguard, Amidst #ENDSARS protests, Police allegedly tortured teenager to death in Kano, 19 October 2020, url
744 For more information on the different types of hisbah in northern Nigeria, see EASO COI Report Nigeria, Targeting Individuals, November 2018, url, par. 2.5.3
745 USCIRF, Shari’ah Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria, December 2019, url, pp. 31-32, 37
746 Yahaya et al., An Assessment of Challenges Faced by Security Agencies in Fighting Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Kano State, Nigeria, July 2018, url, p. 53
747 International Crisis Group: Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem, 18 May 2020, url, p. 20
748 International Crisis Group: Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem, 18 May 2020, url, p. 27
operating on the route’, according to a police commander, cited by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).749
2.3.3.5 Infrastructure damage and explosive remnants of war
No information was found on major damage in infrastructure or explosive remnants of war in Kano state.
2.3.3.6 Displacement and return
For a general overview of the displacement trends in the North-West and North-Central Regions, see Section 2.2.3.6. in Kaduna state.
IDPs
The total estimated number of IDPs for Kano by Round 5, December 2020 was 50 676, an increase of 25 443 individuals (101 %) compared to Round 4, July 2020 (25 233 IDPs). This strong increase was explained by IOM by the fact that 25 more wards were assessed during the Round 5 assessments than in Round 4.750
For an overview of changes in IDP population by state (North-West and North-Central Region) between Round 4 and 5, see Table 5 in Section 2.2.3.6.
Returnees
No information was found on the number of returnees to Kano state.