Contested Forgiveness: Unsolicited Amnesty and the Reintegration of ‘Repentant’ Bandits in Northwest Nigeria

Banditry poses a serious threat to lives and livelihoods in parts of Nigeria’s Northwest and Northcentral regions. This has resulted in the deaths of thousands and the displacement of several others. Both the federal government and the affected subnational state governments have responded to this threat by deploying different measures aimed at bringing an end to it. One of such measures adopted by some subnational governments has involved granting amnesty to so called ‘repentant’ bandits. This approach has failed. While several works articulate the origins, nature, character, and trends of banditry, this essay focuses on the controversial issue of amnesty for bandits in Nigeria’s Northwest region. It interrogates the rationale behind the decision to grant amnesty to bandits and why this has failed. Three fundamental things are required for amnesty to yield the desired results within fragile and conflict affected settings, yet they remain absent in the case of Northwest Nigeria. These include the need for individual risk assessment for ‘repentant’ bandits; the buy-in of the affected local communities throughout the entire process; and third, the need to incorporate the voices of victims, including women and girls. The consequences of attempting to reintegrate ‘repentant’ bandits in Northwest Nigeria, in the absence of these, guarantee the repeated failure of such initiatives.