LOCALIZED PEACE IN A WEAPONIZED ENVIRONMENT: INTERROGATING COMMUNITY-DRIVEN PEACEBUILDING MECHANISMS AGAINST ARMED BANDITRY IN NIGERIA’S NORTHWEST

• AKANNI Waliyu Oladotun (PhD)
• YUSUF Tawakaliyu Bola (PhD)
• MUHAMMED Idris

Abstract

The protracted armed banditry and its associated threats to peace and security are gradually turning Nigeria’s Northwest into another regional theatre of violence. There is palpable tension and heightened fear of possible replica in the magnitude of Boko Haram insurgency attacks in the Northwest if decisive and urgent steps are not taken. Although State-level peace efforts have had some initial success in the areas of weapon surrendering and releasing of kidnapped victims, these have however not mitigated the threats that the recurring armed banditry poses to peace and security desired by the region. As a qualitative research, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant Interview (KII) were conducted with relevant non-state actors on the application of community-driven peacebuilding and conflict transformation approaches and their successes in this current dispensation. Data generated from the field were complemented by reviewed literature. As the epicentre of the armed banditry, the focus of this paper was consciously restricted to only Zamfara State in order to interrogate community interventions in a more context-specific manner. Among other things, this paper underscores the relevance of localised peace as a veritable tool for building sustainable peace and tackling conflict at its source by recommending solutionist strategies to state actors and others alike, just for the sake of peace in Zamfara State and the Northwest as a whole. The study emphasizes in its conclusion that security challenges in the region have deeply local roots and therefore require community conflict transformation efforts and traditional peacebuilding interventions as alternative methods of building sustainable peace and promoting peaceful co-existence in a weaponized environment like Nigeria’s Northwest.

Key Words:  Armed banditry, peace, violence, conflict, Northwest