The Defence Headquarters (DHQ)’s deployment of fighter jets to Sokoto State to help fight banditry has both excitement and backlash among residents.

Fighter jets roared over the state, as well as the neighbouring states of Kebbi and Zamfara, signalling that the government is serious about taking down the hoodlums who are wreaking havoc in the areas. This came after weeks of relentless bandit attacks that have left villages deserted and thousands displaced following persistent attacks by armed gangsters.

Hassan Dan Goronyo, who has fled his ancestral home, said the thunderous sounds overhead felt like a bitter reminder that help had come too late. He said: “We begged for action when bandits were burning our villages and killing our people, but no one came. Now that our communities are empty, the jets are here.”

Analysts described the move as a belated gesture, an afterthought by the authorities. They argued that the presence of the jets, although a show of force, cannot mask the devastation already inflicted on communities in Sokoto North, Tureta, Isa, Goronyo, and Sabon Birnilocal government areas.

A displaced farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said:”We heard the roar of the jets and thought finally we are safe, but we returned to empty homes and abandoned farmlands. What is left to protect?” For residents of Sokoto City, the sound of fighter jets was both terrifying and reassuring – terrifying because it evoked images of war and reassuring because it hinted that the government had finally stirred to action.

Many questioned why the authorities allowed the bandits to tighten their grip for so long before deploying such a decisive tool of deterrence. “If this action had come earlier, maybe the lives of our children, parents, and neighbours would have been saved,” a local civil society leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.