Zurmi

Zurmi is a town in northern Zamfara State and the headquarters of Zurmi Local Government Area, which covers roughly 2,834 km² and recorded a population of about 294,000 at the 2006 census. The area's founding population is largely Fulani-Alibawa, whose ancestors migrated from Mali by way of Katsina and Sokoto State before settling in the Zurmi area in the 17th century, around the time of Shehu Usman dan Fodio's jihad; local tradition credits the settlement's early leadership with district-head status granted after the jihad. Zurmi sits close to Nigeria's border with Niger.