The proliferation of armed vigilante groups in Nigeria: tacit or official endorsement

Abstract

This paper examines the proliferation of armed vigilante groups in Nigeria, especially with its tacit or official endorsements by the Federal and State Governments and the general public. In recent times, the activities of armed vigilante groups has sparked a lot of scholarly debates among authors, critics and analysts who tend to question the necessity for the normal security forces to abdicate their duties to alternative organizations in the country. The study used secondary sources of data collection methods, while the general systems theory provided the framework. The result of findings revealed that four different categories of vigilante groups exist in Nigeria, namely the neighborhood or community watch, ethnic vigilante groups, religious vigilante groups and state-sponsored vigilante groups. Despite the obvious shortcomings in their activities, the proliferation of these armed groups has the support of private individuals and public institutions in the country; thereby filling security gaps provided by the inefficient and ineffective policing of regular security forces. Therefore, it was suggested that the capability of the Federal Government to offer security and administer justice to its citizens needs to be improved irrespective of tribe or religious affiliations, provide better security and counter impunity, pursue police reform and bolster judicial capacity to deliver justice without fear or favor, delegate some policing authority to state and local governments, and create legislation to better control vigilante groups and the dangers involved in their operations. Otherwise, armed vigilante groups will continue to proliferate with increased capacity to upset national security systems.