MERCHANTS OF DEATH: How Bandits Built a Criminal Economy in Northern Nigeria

Banditry is not a crime of poverty — it is a business of power. What began as cattle rustling has transformed into one of the most organized criminal economies in Africa. Hidden deep in the forests of Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger, armed groups now control territory, levy taxes, and negotiate ransoms worth millions.

In the forests of Northern Nigeria fear has become law. Children learn to run at the sound of motorcycles. Mothers bury sons they couldn’t afford to ransom.

Villages pay taxes to men with guns for the right to stay alive.

But behind the horror is a system — a criminal empire built by those who profit from pain.

Merchants of Death puts faces to the statistics and asks the question Nigeria has avoided too long: How did we allow criminals to become kings?

Drawing on investigative reports, survivor testimony, and field research, Merchants of Death explains:

• Who the bandits are and how they operate
• How guns, gold, and ransom money flow through the shadows
• The role of local collaborators and cross-border crime
• What Nigeria must do — now — to break the cycle

This is not just the story of a region in crisis.
It is the blueprint of a nation’s recovery.