From forest hideouts to TikTok, Facebook: Concerns as bandits turn social media influencers

Nigerian bandits once confined to forest hideouts are now livestreaming on TikTok and Facebook to flaunt cash, weapons and influence, prompting security agencies to track and arrest figures like the now-detained “Sule Yellow” as part of efforts to counter this new wave of “cyber-enabled banditry”

Banditry in Nigeria used to be a story told only in the aftermath — through reports of midnight raids, mass abductions and ransom drops in forests stretching from Zamfara to Borno. Not anymore. Today, some of the country’s most violent criminals are filming themselves doing it, live, for an audience of thousands.

As reported by The Sun, bandits are increasingly turning to TikTok and Facebook to flex wealth, flash weapons and build online followings — essentially rebranding terror as content. Viral livestreams showing armed men flanked by AK-47s and ammunition belts, casually flaunting bundles of cash, have racked up thousands of comments and shares, turning criminal violence into a strange form of national entertainment.

A security expert who spoke anonymously didn’t mince words: “More disturbing is that some Nigerians have been asking the bandits to send money to them. How can a sensible Nigerian do that?” He added that such money comes from kidnappings and forced property sales by desperate families, warning, “those of us in the security agencies know what to do about the development.”

The poster child for this trend is Sule Yellow, who built notoriety flaunting ransom money on TikTok livestreams before troops tracked and arrested him in March, shutting down his account in the process. He’s far from alone — names like the late Bello Turji, Dogo Gide, Halilu Buzu, Ali Kawaje, Auwalun Daudawa and Ado Aleru have all built fearsome reputations partly amplified by digital platforms rewarding shock and spectacle.

Police say the trend, dubbed “cyber-enabled banditry,” is a misconception if seen as untraceable — Sule Yellow’s arrest, they argue, proves the opposite.