Banditry in northern Nigeria continues unchecked. Interventions should prioritize the protection of civilians and combine dialogue, economic infrastructure, and enforcement.
By Claudia Wiehler and Medinat Malefakis
Nigeria has functioned as an anchor of stability in West Africa, a region that has been shaken by seven coups in three years. Yet, Nigeria is also grappling with several internal security crises including a violent-extremist insurgency and large-scale banditry, putting into question Nigeria’s ability to maintain this role. Reports about collaborations between bandit groups and Boko Haram extremists create fear about an unholy alliance across the country’s Northern region, potentially linking violent extremist groups in Mali and Niger with those in the Lake Chad region. It is against this backdrop of severe civilian suffering and potential transnational ripple effects that we argue for a pragmatic and rapid intervention in the banditry crisis. At this point, it is time to make ‘peace’ with the bandits.
No region of Nigeria has been spared of violent armed conflict. The South, which has been grappling with a secessionist movement in support of an independent state of Biafra since 1967, is also the site of conflict over Nigeria’s vast oil reserves. Disputes between farmers and herders as well as ethno-religious tensions are a long-standing issue throughout the North and other parts of the country.
The Boko Haram insurgency, along with its Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates, has raged in the North-east for more than 13 years, resulting in over 43,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2.2 million people.1 For over a decade…
