Stakeholder Relations Perspectives in Managing Nigeria’s Rising Crimes

In today’s Nigerian society, crime represents a critical stakeholder. The unprecedented rise in crimes, such as, armed robbery, cultism, kidnapping, terrorism, banditry and cattle rustling has constrained the Nigerian government to introduce several crime fighting approaches. Despite government efforts, especially through State security forces, crimes have assumed a worsening dimension with increasing cases of attacks and abduction of villagers, worshippers, travellers and other settlers around Nigeria. Schools around the country are not spared, as both students and staff of different levels of educational institutions are kidnapped for ransom and sometimes killed by bandits and terrorists. Many Nigerian farmers have also been forced to abandon their farms due to incessant attacks. Not only are lives and property threatened, the Nigerian economy is also distressed by the impacts of insecurity on agriculture and the attendant hike in the prices of essential food commodities. Following the seeming inability of regular government crime fighting approaches to substantially deal with Nigeria’s rising insecurity, this paper examined the application of stakeholder relations perspectives to approach the country’s worsening insecurity. The qualitative paper combined Stakeholder and Relational Dialectics as theoretical cornerstone. It examined the impacts of some crime-yielding challenges, such as, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, economic inequality and pseudo-social participation on the meteoric rise in crime in Nigeria. The paper recommended the application of dialogue in managing the rising militia activities and crimes. It was also recommended that beyond equipping State security formations, Nigerian government should direct attention to the conditions that breed crimes in the country.

Farmers–Herdsmen Conflict, Cattle Rustling, and Banditry: The Dialectics of Insecurity in Anka and Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Nigeria

The study examined farmers–herdsmen conflict, cattle rustling, and banditry in Anka and Maradun local government area of Zamfara State, Nigeria. The study examined the influence of farmers–herdsmen conflicts on cattle rustling and banditry, and vice versa. Exploratory research was employed; focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interview (KII)were used to collect primary data from the respondents. The data generated were transcribed and recorded verbatim (word-for-word account of verbal interview) and they were converted into written form. Data were enumerated and thematic analysis and categorization were provided. Secondary data were sourced from internet and relevant books. This study adopted the environmental resources scarcity and frustration-aggression theory. The findings of the study revealed that farmers–herdsmen conflict precipitates the acts of cattle rustling and banditry. It also revealed that conversely cattle rustling and banditry contributed to the farmers–herdsmen conflict in the local government area of Zamfara State. The study discovered that the synthesis of farmers–herdsmen conflicts, cattle rustling, and banditry pose serious threat to the safety and security of the people. The researchers recommended that there should be an introduction of grazing reserves equipped with adequate social amenities and that there should be policies capable of enhancing herders’ transformation from traditional to the modern method of animal husbandry. They also suggested that various factors responsible for farmers–herdsmen conflict, cattle rustling, and banditry should be properly managed by traditional and religious leaders. The findings corroborate the gaps which the researchers intended to fill

Changes in Cattle Rustling on Gender Relations Among the Pokot in West Pokot, Kenya

Evidence of change in cattle rustling practice among pastoralist communities worldwide has been noted with globalisation, education, and modernisation, among other factors. However, there is little known about transformation in men and women's involvement in this practice in the wake of easy accessibility of small and light weapons and breakdown of the traditional leadership and control systems. This paper examined the transformation in cattle rustling practice among the Pokot community in West Pokot county. This study's target population included adult residents of the Pokot community, community elders, opinion leaders, political and administrative leaders, and local and international NGOs dealing with cattle rustling issues in West Pokot County. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 350 respondents. An unstructured questionnaire, a critical informant interview guide, a focus group discussion guide, and an observation guide were used to collect primary data. Qualitative data collected was analysed using patterns and critical themes of this particular objective. Quantitative data analysis was organised using the SPSS software version 2.0 and analysed using various descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that transformation in cattle rustling had seen a cultural activity for the young people to demonstrate their courage and wit and become a murderous criminal endeavour. The community no longer benefits from cattle rustling, but only a few are driven by greed to reap where they never sow. Illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, community conflicts, possession of firearms and insecurity were identified as the leading causes of cattle rustling. Access to formal education has seen many in the school-going age among the West Pokot get exposed to literacy, which has gradually recorded a positive transformation about its cattle rustling practices. Based on the findings, the paper makes the following recommendations to address the problem of cattle rustling among the people of West Pokot County: Enlightenment on contemporary ways of life; formal education among the Pokot to be advocated for; enhancing Security in West Pokot; opening a platform for peace talk and persuasions and operationalising the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation protocol.

Negotiating with the Bandits and Endless Security Challenges in Katsina State, Nigeria (2019-2020)

The paper assesses the context of armed banditry, cattle rustling, and kidnappings in Katsina State. The activities of the criminals have been on the rise and the security situation deteriorated after negotiation between the State Government and the criminals. The researchers adopted a cross-sectional study design and explanatory research type. A field survey was conducted in Batsari town and two villages: Zamfarawa and Bakiyawa. In-Depth Interviews (IDI) were conducted with some residents of the villages and some armed bandits. A non-probability sampling and snowballing technique were adopted to sample the research participants for the interviews. The study found that the Katsina State Government has not understand fully the security challenge and hence identified the wrong leaders of the criminals for negotiation, this is because there are three categories of criminals in the areas. This incensed some of the groups of criminals to intensify their attacks, kidnapping, and the rustling of livestock.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REPERCUSSIONS OF CATTLE RUSTLING IN GUSAU LOCAL GOVERNMENT ZAMFARA STATE, NIGERIA

The study dwells on the recent upsurge of the problem of Cattle rustling in Gusau Local Government in Zamfara State, Nigeria. The acts which is one of the different forms of rural banditry, involves attacking rural communities with dangerous weapons and the stealing of their livestock by the gang of cattle rustlers. These result in the indiscriminate killings of innocent livestock owners, farmers, rural traders, vigilante group members, rape and abduction of young girls and married women and burning of hamlets/settlements by the various gang of cattle rustlers operating in the affected areas .Consequently, this resulted in mass migration of innocent rural dwellers out of the conflict areas of Gusau to more safer regions. Negatively this has affected the area economically and undermined the social fabric of the rural communities.In addition, the study also examined the reasons for the recent upsurge of cattle rustling in the affecteddistricts The research used the Queer ladder theoryand for analysis of the functional significance of organised crime as a means for socioeconomic empowerment and social climbing Dahrendorf’s theoretical model of conflict to demonstrate the impact of authority relations that precipitate the conflict. Data were collected using survey method with a sample of 100 respondents while ten(10) key informant interviews were conducted with the stakeholders that include police officers, local vigilante, NGOs, civil defence corps, and community leaders making a total of 110. The findings indicated that the upsurge in cattle rustling could be attributed to factors that include the proliferation of firearms among the Fulani herdsmen, activities of the rural vigilante groups, influence of violent culture, lack of adequate or complete absence of security personnel in the affected districts. As a way forward the research recommends that, the government should as a matter of urgency embark on comprehensive disarmaments of all parties involved, and adequate security to be immediately provided to the affected communities and other vulnerable areas prone to attack and generally uplift the standard of living of the people.

Rural Migration and Relative Deprivation in Agro-Pastoral Communities Under the Threat of Cattle Rustling in Nigeria

Pastoral livestock production as a primary source of livelihood is increasingly becoming unsustainable due to the rapidly changing social context, perennial cattle rustling, unpredictable climatic conditions, and rapid population growth. Migration in response to these changes in social context has often increased competition for land and natural resources between the farmers and pastoralists. Using survey data from 1,750 agro-pastoral households, this study examines the impact of cattle rustling and relative deprivation on shaping the patterns of migration in Nigeria. The results of linear regression show that the loss of livestock, cattle rustling, income diversity, literacy, and herd size are significant determinants of migration patterns. These factors were instrumental in the households’ decision to migrate transitorily or permanently. While the findings indicate that relative deprivation is a significant push factor, migration in response to deprivation and cattle rustling may not necessarily decrease inequality due to weak social capital among the agro-pastoralists. In this sense, increasing pastoral social and economic capital is critical to the reduction of inequality and competition for natural capital. As such, rural livelihood enhancement intervention embedded within the context of a conflict mitigation mechanism is required to decrease the perceived relative deprivation.

BANDITRY IN NIGERIA’S NORTHWEST: A REFLECTIVE PERSPECTIVE

The menace of crime around the globe has raised the question of what underscore security. It draws attention to how criminals and their activities can be nipped in the bud. The concurrence of banditry activities in Nigeria's northwest region remains a ready case for discussion, giving the escalation in the number of cases of cattle rustling, kidnapping and other dreadful incidences affecting the residents of the region. The qualitative methodology was employed in the conduct of the research. The researcher paid a keen attention to the different forms of crimes around the above location and how best to keep it under check. It was observed that the region is volatile with the presence of an array of criminal elements who have overtime posed a humongous threat to the region, and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state as a whole. It was however, opined that, for peace and tranquility to return to the Northwest region of Nigeria currently bedeviled by nefarious activities of bandits, stakeholders at all levels must own the troubles by consciously agreeing to stamp out all enemies of peace. Furthermore, the paper recommended that the government should apply judicial jurisprudence in the prosecution of suspects arrested according to extant laws. Keywords: Banditry, Crime, Nigeria’s northwest

A Study on the Comprehensive Comparison between Indigenous Cattle Rustling and Modern Cattle Rustling in West Pokot County, Kenya

Evidence of change in cattle rustling practice among pastoralist communities worldwide has been noted with globalisation, education, and modernisation, among other factors. However, there is little known about transformation in men and women’s involvement in this practice in the wake of easy accessibility of small and light weapons (SALWs) and breakdown of the traditional leadership and control systems. This paper examined the transformation in cattle rustling practice among the Pokot community in West Pokot county. This study’s target population included adult residents of Pokot community, community elders, opinion leaders, political and administrative leaders, and local and international NGOs dealing with cattle rustling issues in West Pokot county. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 350 respondents. An unstructured questionnaire, a critical informant interview guide, a focus group discussion guide, and an observation guide were used to collect primary data. Qualitative data collected was analysed using patterns and critical themes of this particular objective. Quantitative data analysis was organised using the SPSS software version 2.0 and analysed using various descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that transformation in cattle rustling had seen a cultural activity for the young people to demonstrate their courage and wit and become a murderous criminal endeavour. The community no longer benefits from cattle rustling, but only a few are driven by greed to reap where they never sow. Illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, community conflicts, possession of firearms and insecurity were identified as the leading causes of cattle rustling. Access to formal education has seen many in the school-going age among the West Pokot get exposed to literacy, which has gradually recorded a positive transformation about its cattle rustling practices. Based on the findings, the paper makes the following recommendations to address the problem of cattle rustling among the people of West Pokot County: Enlightenment on contemporary ways of life; formal education among the Pokot to be advocated for; enhancing Security in West Pokot; opening a platform for peace talk and persuasions and operationalising the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) protocol.