Arms Conflicts, Community Safety, Security and Reintegration Challenges in Madagali Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria (Published)
Since 2009 the North east of Nigeria has been engulfed in arms struggles by the Boko Haram insurgents. This menace has brought serious setbacks to the socio-political and economic development of the region. The three states mostly affected by recurrent and pervasive violence are Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY). The Federal and States governments concerned responded swiftly to this menace through military operations and humanitarian interventions through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). This study therefore examines Arms Conflicts, community safety, security and Reintegration challenges in areas affected by the Insurgency in Madagali local government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study used a combination survey, observation and available documents. The paper clearly established that: peace is progressively returning to some communities in the studied conflict area as evident in the gradual return of economic and social activities with the last violent attack on the community being in 2018 even though neighbouring communities are still experiencing attacks from the Boko-haram insurgents. Similarly, there are new emerging trend in the conflict dynamics particularly the emergence of new crimes such as kidnapping for ransom, abduction, drug abuse and trafficking, cattle rustling, rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence in the community. The paper established that communities in Madagali are in urgent need of critical infrastructures such as water, electricity, doctors, health services, humanitarian support and employment opportunities. In addition the study revealed that although humanitarian support and assistance exist, such interventions are inadequate for the large population of IDPs and host community and the process of sharing is marred by irregularities, sharp practices and favouritism that tend to deepen exclusion and generate tension. That the community has shown commitment to peace building, social cohesion and reintegration by demonstrating willingness to accept and reintegrate those associated with the insurgents. In particular, those who were forced into joining the insurgents but have re-joined the community or those that had undergone the de-radicalisation process through participation in the safe corridor programme of the government. The study recommended among others: the need for the Federal government of Nigeria to expand and consolidate the operational capacity of the security architecture in the counter insurgency through, recruitment of additional personnel, weapon upgrade, and motivation and above all provide logistic support to the relevant agencies
Citation: Manpa’a Aliyu Musa (2022) Arms Conflicts, Community Safety, Security and Reintegration Challenges in Madagali Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria, Global Journal of Political Science and Administration, Vol.10, No.4, pp.21-45
Keywords: Nigeria, Security, arms conflicts, community safety, reintegration conflict zones