OF MARAUDERS AND BRIGANDS: SCOPING THE THREAT OF RURAL BANDITRY IN NIGERIA’S NORTH WEST

Abstract

This study explores the phenomenon of rural banditry in Nigeria’s northwestern region against the backdrop of its rising incidence over recent years. By means of a qualitative analysis of secondary data, aided by the Routine Activity Theory (RAT), the study posits that rural banditry in North West Nigeria thrives within a socio-existential context characterized by governance deficits, which has created an abiding pretext for criminal opportunism and impunity. The study identifies the scarcely governed borderlines, hinterlands and forestlands as well as the poorly regulated mining, transhumance and arms sectors in the region, as the critical drivers of the rural banditry scourge. With reference to the incidences of village raids, highway robberies, kidnapping and cattle rustling, the study situates the palpable threat of rural banditry in the focal area, noting that mitigating the scourge requires a systematic approach capable of devitalizing the gamut of socio-existential factors that underlie and precipitate it.