Military-Civilian Relationship in Fight against Armed Banditry in North-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Insecurity has worsened in North-West Nigeria, due to the activities of armed banditry, necessitating the deployments and operations of the military. The banditry has affects individuals, groups and the society in general. It leads to wanton destruction of lives and property, social dislocation and also necessitates government diversion of its resources that are meant for development to the fight armed bandits. The role play by civilians in fight against armed bandits cannot be overemphasized, as civilians’ cooperation are needed in the area of providing useful information and identification of bandits as well as the formation of local vigilante groups. The cooperation between the civilians and the military has always been one important part of societal development as these have always worked together to ensure peace and security in the society. The paper attempted to examines the importance of the military and the civilian working together to ensure peace in North-Western Nigeria especially during the ongoing war against banditry. The paper utilized mainly secondary sources of information through the review of relevant literatures particularly academic peer review. The paper revealed that the civilian population has played an important role in raising its voice to ensure the fight against banditry is won. Therefore, the paper recommends that the relationship between the civilians and the military should be strengthened through the provision of certain incentives to the civilians who provide useful security information on how to identify the bandits. In addition, the government should educate both the civilians and the military on their respective roles to fight banditry in Nigeria.