Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The woman's voice cracks as she speaks, her newborn child clutched to her chest, naked against the harsh wind of displacement. She is one of thousands who have fled their homes in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto State after bandits unleashed a wave of terror that has left entire communities deserted. “I gave birth on the way, but I don’t even have a wrapper to carry my baby,” she says, her words a haunting testament to the human cost of a crisis that has been allowed to fester for too long.
Her story is not unique. Across Sokoto State, families have been uprooted, villages emptied, and lives shattered by a relentless wave of bandit attacks that have turned the North-West into a theatre of death and displacement. In early August 2026 alone, at least 39 people were killed, 37 abducted, and 19 communities displaced following attacks in Shagari and Sabon Birni local government areas. In one six-hour attack, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., bandits killed 39 villagers and abducted 37 others, forcing residents from 19 surrounding villages to flee. The affected communities include Borai, Tsululu, Garin Tudu, Bukka Hamsin, Turkawa, Rumbukawa, Dutsin Na Umma, Zangon Muazu, Arawa, Kuru, Zangon Mallam, Mai Hurde, Zugun, Gidan Na Birni, Mashaya and Marina.
The violence has triggered secondary tragedies. As families attempted to escape across a river, overloaded boats capsized, throwing about 25 people, mostly women and children, into the water. Seven were rescued, but at least 18 others remain missing. One resident described the terror of the attack, recounting how bandits searched through farms and bushes where families had been sleeping to avoid attacks. “I personally saw three infants placed on the ground while their mothers were forced into the bush,” he said.
In Shagari LGA, the situation is equally dire. Residents said about 20 villages had been deserted following bandit attacks. Troops of the 8 Division Garrison of the Nigerian Army have been responding to distress calls, rescuing 14 kidnapped victims and recovering 281 rustled livestock from bandits who attacked Horo Birni Village in Shagari. But the rescues, while significant, are a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the displacement. The attacks have also extended to Rabah LGA, where bandits killed four persons and carted away property worth hundreds of millions of naira during separate attacks on Gandi and Maikujera communities. The attackers invaded houses built by the Government of Qatar for internally displaced persons (IDPs), killing two residents before soldiers arrived and repelled them.
The humanitarian needs of displaced families are urgent and overwhelming. Pregnant women, new mothers, and children are particularly vulnerable. The woman who gave birth on the run is not alone; she is the face of a crisis that has been allowed to escalate while the world looks away. Her plea for a simple wrapper to carry her baby is a reminder that behind the statistics of banditry and displacement are real people, real families, and real suffering.
Former Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has decried the renewed attacks, warning that banditry is taking a devastating toll on rural livelihoods. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed that recent bandit attacks have displaced thousands of residents. The Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to declare banditry and terrorism in the North-West a humanitarian emergency.
Yet the response remains inadequate. Residents have appealed to the federal and Sokoto State governments to urgently deploy additional security operatives and provide Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to enable operatives to reclaim the area. The police have deployed additional personnel, but the attacks continue.
The story of the mother who gave birth on the run is a painful reminder that insecurity is not just about numbers and incidents. It is about families losing their homes, mothers struggling to protect their children, and ordinary people being forced to flee for their lives. Her cry for help is a cry for the nation to wake up, to act, and to ensure that no mother ever has to give birth on the run without even a wrapper to carry her baby. The humanitarian needs of displaced families deserve urgent attention. The time for action is now.
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