Promoting Intercommunity Relations for Effective Security and Peacebuilding along the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Axis of the Nigeria-Niger Borderland

This article explores the emerging narratives surrounding the persistent phenomenon of armed banditry in the region. It focuses on the factors and actors driving banditry along the Nigeria-Niger borderlands. Using data from both primary and secondary sources, the study reveals that internal strife along the borderlands and the collapse of state control have facilitated the proliferation of small arms, significantly increasing the intensity of banditry in Nigeria's northwest. The research concludes that the prolonged neglect of border communities has deprived them of basic necessities, exacerbating the situation. As a result, Nigeria’s northwestern states—Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina, which border Niger—have become safe havens for raiders and bandits, who, in some cases, establish 'informal structures' of control over the borderland communities.