BANDITRY AND KIDNAPPING IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: AN INTERROGATION OF SECURITY GOVERNANCE AND EFFORTS AT NATION BUILDING.

Abstract

Emerging security challenges are undermining Nigeria’s checkered history. These challenges can be gleaned from the threats posed by activities of Boko Haram and its splinter elements in the North East, the North West, and the North Central. This includes other threats from separatist groups operating in other regions of the country, such as the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and, later, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Lately, there has emerged another security threat from the age-old herder-farmer conflict, which has morphed into widening cases of kidnapping for ransom and banditry in the Northwest and the North Central, and is gradually seeping into other regions of the country. Using materials from secondary sources, this paper examines the effectiveness of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism and internal security governance and its impact. The paper contends that the persistent threat from bandits reflects part of the broader rot in the country’s security governance, which has continued to undermine efforts at nation-building. In conclusion, the paper recommends a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s security governance and policing architecture, as well as the state’s interventions to address youth unemployment and the country's structural poverty.