ETHNIC MILITIA AND VIOLENT CRIMES IN NIGERIA: A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

Currently, Nigeria is facing serious violent security breaches and challenges which express themselves in different forms and shapes of violent crimes such as: bomb attacks, armed robberies, assassinations, kidnappings, sectarian violence, etc. These violent crimes and security breaches are essentially perpetrated by different ethnic militias that dot the entire landscape of Nigeria such as O’odua people’s congress (OPC). Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereignty State of Biafra (MASSOB), Arewa People’s Congress (APC), Boko Haram, Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), etc. These security problems have caused Nigeria and Nigerians enormous human and material resources, as well as impacted negatively on the growth and development of our dear country. Hence, national insecurity appears to be the greatest challenge/problem facing Nigeria today as a country. Therefore, in this paper, we shall examine serious issueS of ethnic militias and violent crimes in Nigeria by addressing the following objectives: the rationale/justification of the emergence of ethnic militia groups in Nigeria; the identification of major ethnic militia groups across the geo-political zones of Nigeria, their operational bases and their violent campaigns; and the articulation of the impact of their violent campaigns and recommendations on how to curb the emergence and menace of these militia groups in Nigeria. Key words: Ethnic Militia, Violent crimes