Bulama Bukarti is a senior analyst in the Extremism Policy Unit of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where he focuses on violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa. In the aftermath of the 14 August attack on Nigerian troops in Niger state, took to his social media page on X-Platform (Twitter) to analyze the actions of the Dogo Gide insurgents group describing it as a possible emergence of New Shekau.
According to Bulama Dogo’s video claiming responsibility for the downing of a Nigerian Air Force Mi-171 helicopter earlier this week, Dogo Gide asserted that his dreadful act was “Allah’s work, not ours”. He implored Nigerians to “repent” for their safety, while his fighters chanted “Allahu Akbar.”
Dogo Gide, one of the most infamous terror masterminds in the northwest, has spent over three years asserting his affiliation with al-Qaida and professing his mission to establish his perverse interpretation of Sharia law. He’s killed, kidnapped, raped and robbed with impunity.
However, politicians in Zamfara and Katsina, and the Buhari FG persisted in labeling Gide as part of a “local” criminal gang, while most researchers remained ambivalent despite compelling evidence. This stance has significantly downplayed the gravity of the threat Gide poses.
Dogo Gide is rapidly emerging as the new Abubakar Shekau. Their ideologies, messages, and mannerisms bear striking resemblances. In fact, Gide is already a low-budget Shekau.
With a larger pool of fighters and resources, Gide has the potential to replicate in the northwest/northcentral the havoc wrought by Shekau in the northeast. The FG must exert its utmost efforts to apprehend and/or neutralize Dogo Gide before he evolves into a full-fledged Shekau.
