Ibrahim Auwal (not real name) is an infamous political thug in Kano State, and has been one for many years now. He has served many politicians, and at various levels before, and is now widely agreed to be the state’s most notorious and well-connected thug. He told Daily Trust Saturday that he began 27 years ago, via peer pressure.
Auwal recalled that it was one evening that he went to a friend’s house, whose brother said had gone to the Audu Bako secretariat. “I wondered what would take him there, not being a government worker. So, I followed, and fortunately, money was being shared. Each of them got N2,000 and I was lucky to get the remaining N1,000. I was hooked,” he said.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that the thugs have organized leadership, with hierarchies adhered to strictly,” he revealed, adding that there are three different groups of political thugs in Kano at present. “We have Jagaliya, who are mostly drug addicts, jobless and young men of ages between 15 and 30, and they arm themselves. They have trust issues, and don’t have a permanent sponsor. Politicians normally hire them to do the dirtiest jobs, like maiming or killing their opponents,” he said.
Auwal added that there is another group called Yan Banga, similar to Jagaliya. He revealed the third as the most organized, called ‘Yan Surveillance’, noting that it was not every thug that qualifies to be a member of this group. “Members have to be hefty, strong, and fearless. They are usually attached to high-profile politicians’ convoys. They deal directly with the political bosses, and you’d hardly see them collecting money from politicians in the open. They are in a way high profile themselves, with many of them sponsored to Mecca for pilgrimage, and own personal houses and cars. In fact, some of them are into one business or the other, all courtesy of organized political thuggery.”
