Building Security through Insecurity: The Nigerian Military and Counter- Violence Campaigns in the Fourth Republic
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SAGE Open
Abstract
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Since independence on October 1, 1960, Nigeria has been a victim, at one time or
the other, of intra-ethnic, inter-ethnic, religious, and communal conflicts which have
undermined the human security of her citizens. Nigeria’s corporate existence had
also been threatened by 3 years (1967–1970) civil war which impacted negatively on
the well-being of its people. In addition, the inability of the Nigerian Police to cope
with the magnitude of the surge of violence in recent years has brought about the
idea of involving the military, a core component of traditional security apparatus to
deal with internal insecurity. This article is anchored on human security paradigm
with reliance on secondary data to analyze the operations of the Nigerian Military in
counterviolence campaigns between 1999 and 2017. This article points out that the
involvement of the military in internal security has worsened the problem of insecurity
due to the military’s unprofessional approach and, at times, deliberate targeting
the civilian populace which it is supposed to protect. It, therefore,
recommends among others, the need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to
urgently review the role of the armed forces in addressing internal security situations
in a way that will bring about respect for the rule of engagement in internal
security operations and adherence to global best practices.
Keywords
JC Political theory