Armed Banditry in Nigeria - Evolution, Dynamics, and Trajectories

In Nigeria, armed banditry has emerged as a contemporary threat to national security. Commentators and scholars have repeatedly pointed to overlapping foci such as herders-farmers' conflicts, warlordism, ungoverned spaces, transnational criminal networks, and the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) from Libya as dynamics influencing the current security dilemma in Nigeria. The emergence of armed banditry has triggered the prevalence of everyday killings, kidnapping for ransom, property destruction, and cattle rustling. However, the group's origin remains obscure, while its objectives and organizational structure are fuzzy.


This book aims to unravel the evolution, dynamics, and trajectories of armed banditry in Nigeria. As it explores the activities of armed banditry in Nigeria, the debate will focus on its historical context, socio-economic consequences, transnational dimensions, and the response to armed banditry in Nigeria. Furthermore, the book will explore whether the scourge of armed banditry represents a new terrorist organization with a distinct ideological orientation (if at all) or another non-state armed group creating and profiting from a criminal economy through the reign of terror. In response to the increasing concern for the criminal activities of armed banditry in Nigeria, the book anticipates unpacking its emerging trends and operational nomenclature.


Samuel Oyewole is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria. His research interests cover African affairs, military and strategic studies, crisis management, and development studies.


Folahanmi Aina is an international security analyst and researcher. He completed a second Masters' degree in African Studies, at the University of Oxford, having earlier obtained a Masters' degree in International Development Policy from Seoul National University, South Korea. He is currently completing a doctorate degree in Leadership Studies, with reference to security and development at King's College London.


John Sunday Ojo is a doctoral researcher at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, USA