Temporary paramilitary volunteers at Nigeria’s Chad and Niger borders: A source of recruitment for Boko Haram

ABSTRACT Empirical studies have shown that the use of temporary volunteers to control crime is common in sub-Saharan countries. This study examines the contentious nature of volunteers’ crime control duties along Nigeria’s borders. Using a mixed-method approach, shortcomings in the volunteer scheme’s operation were discovered such as inadequate training, non-hierarchical leadership, poor conditions of service and administrative and technical loopholes that tempted volunteers to become more involved in criminal activity than in crime control. During active service, the volunteers engaged more in economic-related misdemeanours; after being demobilised, they committed felonious offences. Exacerbating factors include the temporary nature of the volunteering, an inability to meet societal and personal demands, a high knowledge of border road networks, closeness to and affinities with known criminals, unemployment and security experience. The use of volunteers in crime control should be halted for multiple reasons, including to reduce leaks about details of security operations.