The Ungoverned Spaces of the Unsecured Borderlands: Trade Relations and Armed Banditry in Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina axis of Nigeria-Niger Border

Nigeria-Niger borderland had been known as a relatively one of the most peaceful border areas in Africa. Recently however, the area became a theater of conflict in form of insurgency, cattle rustling, kidnapping facilitated by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Researches indicate that armed bandits who perpetrate violence in Nigeria’s north-west seek sanctuary along the border with Niger as base where they get new recruits. However one major challenge which has not been well addressed in the literature is paucity of information on the correlation/Nexus between the violence in Nigeria’s north-west on one hand and the volume of border trade among the communities proximate to the border. More problematic is the complex nature of theviolence as it escalates from armed conflicts between mainly Fulani nomads and rural communities and a phenomenal expansion of cattle rustling. Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina axis of Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic is the most porous border Nigeria has with its neighbors, with large volume of the trade between the two countries taking place informally. Paradoxically, Nigeria’s border closure since August, 2019 has witnessed an upsurge in violence committed by large-scale criminal gangs, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, pillage, and attacks on gold miners and traders in the area. The involvement of local institutions/traditional rulers in the conflict have created incentive to local actors, particularly community-based groups including Lakuruje, Miyetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), vigilante groups Yan Sakai/Yan Banga in responding to the violent threats. As these groups are mobile, the conflict became difficult to contain and thus, spill across the ungoverned spaces thereby making the borderlands unsecured