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Cited by 55Diverse Research Studies OverviewPolitical Conflict and GovernanceCrime, Illicit Activities, and Governance

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Beyond Ungoverned Spaces: Connecting the Dots between Relative Deprivation, Banditry, and Violence in Nigeria

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Ejiofor, Promise Frank·2022·African Security
DOI 10.1080/19392206.2022.2061320
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Abstract

The emergence of criminal groups—“armed bandits” in the local parlance—in the northwest geopolitical zone has compounded the security conundrums in Nigeria. The dominant explanation for the ongoing banditry draws on the “ungoverned spaces” theoretical framework to contend that the phenomenon is a by-product of the state’s abject failure to monopolize violence over its territory. The failure on the part of the state to impose order on its territory leaves much room for loosely organized vicious armed groups to wreak havoc on local communities in the northwest region. The proponents of this perspective inevitably recommend a military solution to the security problem. In this article, I take a different position that counteracts the “ungoverned spaces” thesis. I argue that the “ungoverned spaces” thesis blatantly ignores the socioeconomic context within which banditry is embedded and how such context nurtures crime and deviance. Drawing on the relative deprivation theory, I contend that banditry owes not so much to “ungoverned spaces” but to the ethnic cum material grievances of some pastoralists who have taken to criminality for survival and who pinpoint discrepancies between what they had, what they have, and what they think they should have. I argue that resolving banditry would require attending to pastoralists’ grievances through apposite socioeconomic interventions.

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Research works printed but not linked: 51

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Cited by

Metadata

Authors
Ejiofor, P. F.
Affiliations
Central European University (AT)
Corresponding author
Ejiofor, Promise Frank
ORCID
Ejiofor, Promise Frank
Venue
African Security
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2022-04-03
Volume
15
Issue
2
Pages
111-141
ISSN
  • 1939-2206 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-2214
DOI
10.1080/19392206.2022.2061320
OpenAlex
W4223634512
Cited by
55
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1
FWCI
13.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • African Security (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Open Research (Auckland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Diverse Research Studies Overview
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance
Keywords
banditry, ungoverned spaces, relative deprivation theory, North-West Nigeria, pastoralists, ethnic grievances, military intervention, socioeconomic interventions, crime and deviance

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