‘Crimelordism’: Understanding a New Phenomenon in Armed Banditry in Nigeria

Armed banditry is prevalent in Nigeria. It has competed with insurgency for the soul of Nigeria’s national security. Contemporary trajectories of armed banditry in Nigeria have been full of complications. One of the complications is the emergence of crime lords who engage in a self-aggrandizing but also socially sensitive criminal career. This paper seeks to explore the phenomenon of ‘crimelordism’ as a new trend in armed banditry in Nigeria. Utilizing a mixed qualitative method, the paper posits that the prevalence of grossly under-governed territorial spaces, especially in the countryside and borderlands of Nigeria, has created a vacuum of security that is being exploited by criminal kingpins to establish enclaves of criminality where they wield and exercise quasi-territorial powers. The paper submits that ‘crimelordism’ holds critical implications for Nigeria’s national security in view of its ruinous impacts.