Weapons recovered from bandits during Operation Safe Haven in Nigeria.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Civilian protection payment is not a sustainable self-protection strategy in north-west Nigeria.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrives to attend his swearing-in ceremony at Eagle Square venue, Abuja, on May 29, 2023.
Emmanuel Osodi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherits major security challenges. Job creation, poverty alleviation and inclusive growth may be the solution.
Residents fleeing a village in Plateau State, north central Nigeria, after an attack by armed bandits.
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The interests of bandits and jihadists are converging in Nigeria and this poses a formidable threat to the country’s security.
Recent fines on media houses in Nigeria are attempts to gag them.
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Media houses fined recently by Nigeria’s Broadcasting Commission for documentaries on terrorism should approach the courts for redress.
In 2019, members of an anti-banditry vigilante group disarmed in Zamfara but this has not halted attacks from bandits.
Photo by Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images
To end banditry, Nigeria first needs to tackle poverty, hunger and unemployment.
Residents fleeing their homes in Plateau State, north central Nigeria, on April 12, 2022 after their houses were burnt during an attack by bandits.
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The Nigerian government needs to understand that banditry is an act of warfare and should be treated as such.
Some members of the Nigerian Armed Forces Sniper Unit.
Stefan Heunis/AFP via Getty Images
The atrocities and motivation of bandits have assumed insurgent-type criminality. But the Nigerian government is reluctant to label them terrorists or insurgents.
Painting of a raider on horseback (bottom right) with a musket and domestic stock. A ‘rain-animal’ (top right) was likely summoned to wash away the raiders’ tracks.
Courtesy of Sam Challis and Brent Sinclair-Thomson
Runaway slaves joined indigenous Khoe-San people and raided colonial farms. The rock art they left in their hideouts tells a fascinating story.