CHRONICLE AND CONSEQUENCES OF INSURGENCY IN KADUNA STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was on chronicle and consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state Nigeria. Four objectives were raised which included: To find out the causes of insurgency in Kaduna State, to find out the relationship between governance and management of security challenges in Kaduna state, to find out the effect of insurgency on socioeconomic of Kaduna state and to find out the consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state. The total population for the study is 75 selected residents in Kaduna South local government of Kaduna state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies. Kaduna state government should ensure that rising poverty indices are addressed and a realistic social and economic security programme is pursued and systematically implemented to ensure that those that got their businesses affected will recover in good time and Government and other stakeholders should sensitize the general public on value reorientation as regards social cohesion so that there will be peace devoid of mistrust between the displaced persons and the host communities so as to improve social relationship.

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

Since the returned to civil rule in May, 1999 till date, the Nigerian societies have been under serious attacks from insurgent and criminal gangs with terrorist organizations, armed robbers, bandits, attacks from the self-style Fulani herdsmen, youth restiveness and others form of civil unrests as the most frightening of all these megalomanias. The most perturbing of all the recent forms of security threats in the country are those orchestrated by the Islamic Jihadist movements- Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the northern part of the country on the one hand; and bandits, and Fulani herdsmen and farmers conflict on the other hand Abolurin, A. (2011)

Insurgency is an ambiguous concept. The United States Department of Defence (2007) defines it as organized movement that has the aim of overthrowing a constituted government through subversive means and armed conflict (Cited in Hellesen, 2008:14). This definition suggests that insurgent groups employ unlawful means towards achieving an end, which could be political, religious, social or even ideological. The goal of insurgency is to confront and overthrow an existing government for the control of power, resources or for power sharing (Siegel, 2007:328).

In the last two decades or so, aside conventional crimes, Nigeria has been facing emerging internal security challenges or threats which include resource-based conflicts in the Niger Delta, which introduced kidnapping of mostly oil workers into Nigeria’s crime scene; piracy in the Gulf of Guinea; transnational or cross-border crimes, specifically arms, drugs and human trafficking; cybercrimes; election violence; ritual killings; ethno-religious violence; terrorism and insurgency in the northeast and the Lake Chad region; and more recent, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, abduction and rural banditry. These more recent experiences are much more pronounced in the northwest geopolitical zone in which Kaduna State is situated, therefore the State has its own share of experiences of emerging threats to security, which to a large extent impact on its developmental efforts ( Achodo, 2019)

One of the major sources of insecurity in the Kaduna State is conflicts between herders and farmers. The movements of herders from the North towards the south as a result of a number of factors, make Kaduna State a host for the nomadic population mainly due to the fact the its geographic location is strategic. The state’s prominent topographical feature is its dense network of rivers, streams and other drainages, and this feature is very attractive to herders, especially those migrating from the Sahelian North, where water is scarce due to climate change and environmental degradation. Although both the sedentary farmers and the nomadic herders in the state compete for land and water, the resources they require to sustain their preoccupation, the conflict between them is however aggravated by a number of other factors, among which are drought and desertification which affect the production of pastures and drying up of natural water resources. Furthermore, rapid population growth results in more people competing for resources that have already been diminished due to climate change (Aduku, 2018)

It is instructive to note that because most of the nomadic herders are Muslims, whenever there are resource-based clashes between them and farmers in the Southern part of Kaduna state, where the population is mostly Christian, the conflicts are given religious coloration. In the past, there used to be traditional migration routes (burtali) for cattle movements and designated grazing reserves, which have now been obstructed as a result of increase in rural settlements and the expansion of urban cities; development of public infrastructures, such as roads and dams; acquisition of land by large-scale elite farmers; and the creation of industrial or commercial enclaves. This situation has distorted whatever arrangement was made in the past to facilitate the movements of herders designed to minimize or even avoid the triggering of disputes between the two groups, mostly due to crop damage Ajayi, A. I. (2012)  

It has been an age-long tradition for pastoralist communities in West Africa to seasonally move from place to place, using identified livestock corridor (burtali) not only for pastures, but also to avoid areas affected by livestock diseases or sometimes to engage in livestock trade. Although behind these movements are economic activities, criminals have taken advantage to perpetrate their cross-border activities due to the porousness of our land borders. In order to facilitate and monitor transhumance movements, the protocol on transhumance titled “Decision A/DEC.5/10/98 Relating to the regulations on Transhumance between ECOWAS Member States,” was signed during the 21^st Conference of Heads of State in October 1998. In line with the spirit of the protocol, in addition to proof of identity of every herdsman, “…all transhumance livestock shall be allowed free passage across points of entry into and departure from each country on the condition that they have ECOWAS International Transhumance Certificate (ITC).” The arrangement was designed to monitor the herds before they leave the country of origin; protect the health of local herds; and make it possible to inform the host communities of the arrival of transhumance animals (Zenn, J. 2018) The ITC also indicates the routes as defined by Member States, for which transhumance must follow as clearly indicated in their itinerary of movement, except that the crossing of border at night is forbidden. As part of control measures, herds are to be under quarantine for veterinary observation with a view to determining their state of health

Kaduna state hosts a large array of forests, such as the Kagoro and Kamuku, the latter borders Katsina, Niger, Zamfara and Kebbi states. These forests are interconnected with other forests in various states, such as Balmo (Bauchi), Falgore (Kano), Ruma (Katsina), and Kuyambana (Zamfara), and this is why criminals easily follow the trail back and forth into Kaduna state, mostly through Birnin Gwari. What is peculiar about these forests is that they are mostly ungoverned spaces and are rarely policed. Most of the inhabitants are pastoralists and sedentary rural farmers, however among the pastoralists are transhumance from other ECOWAS countries, Chad, and Cameroon, who move seasonally in search of pasture and water. These forests that were originally isolated as Games Reserves or National Parks in which variety of species of trees and wild animals were found, in addition to the fact that they served as natural green walls against desert encroachment, but today they only provide hideouts for all types of criminals engaged in banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping, armed robbery, and terrorism, therefore constitute yet another major source of insecurity in the state Rufa’i, M. A. (2018)

It is important to mention here that the bulk of the population living in these forests is mostly youth under 30 years old, who have been raised as herders, but no longer in the business of herding cattle for various reasons. Among the reasons include the fact that some of them lost their cattle to rustlers; climate change has resulted in land degradation, which consequently reduces grazing lands and sources of water, which in turn impact on the survival of the cattle; inadequate veterinary attention for the cattle resulting in deaths of significant number of herds from diseases such as rinder pest; increase in the population of herders and the effects of youth bulge grossly reduce the ratio of number of cows per head; distortion of grazing lands by elite farmers and other persons who build their homes along the reserved grazing lands and cattleroute (burtali); and rejection by various communities and in some cases criminalizing their lifestyle, especially in the north central geopolitical zone, where the nomadic herders seasonally go for open grazing. Oyelude, O. (2020)

It must however be noted that most of the youth in these forests are uneducated, unskilled and unemployed. Most of them did notutilize the opportunity of the nomadic education program introduced many years ago. Many of them do not have good moral upbringing, and are only Muslims by cultural identity, not in actual practice of the religion, and neither have they been exposed to basic religious knowledge. Interestingly too, a significant number of them, In addition to their lack of education and skills, also abuse drugs and alcohol. It is also on record that they constitute the bulk of those involved in cattle rustling, rural banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and the abduction of women and girls they use as sex slaves in the forests. In these forests, we have all kinds of small arms and light weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, in the hands of violent criminals, whose major means of mobility is the motorcycle. Oyelude, O. (2019)

As a consequence of these conflicts however, Kaduna has been unfortunately divided along ethnic and religious lines, a city that had hitherto been highly mixed. Today the areas that are predominantly Christian are referred to as Jerusalem, while those that are predominantly Muslim referred to as Makkah, specifically between southern and northern parts, respectively. This situation no doubt has far-reaching security implications for the state. It is no secret that there exists rivalry, hatred, and enmity between the dominant Hausa/Fulani in the north, and a significant number of the smaller tribes in the south, with the latter’s perception of being suppressed and oppressed by the former. The fact that the Hausa/Fulani in the northern part of the state are predominantly Muslims, while most of the tribes in southern part are predominantly Christians, makes most of the crises to assume both ethnic and religious dimensions, which are further fueled by the violent activities of the restive youth on both sides. Olaniyan, A. (2018)

Kaduna State has its own share of religious extremism and intolerance, and this has been a source of insecurity. This challenge has been a result of both intra and inter-religious rivalry, distrust, and opposing extremist views. Kaduna state, for example, is the home base of the so-called Nigeria Islamic Movement, a Shi’a sect led by the outspoken and controversial Ibrahim Zakzaky. Zakzaky has been known to be an anti-establishment figure, a rebel of sort,, who maintains his own security outfit and defies national laws. Kaduna also hosts the main headquarters of the Sheikh Gumi’s led Izala movement, and that of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi’s led dariqa movement, both of which exhibit conflicting modes of beliefs and worship, to the extent that each one regards the other as unbeliever. For even among the followers of Izala there is a split by rival groups. Likewise, Kaduna is the northern Nigeria’s center of Christian Pentecostal movements, known for their claims for all kinds of miracles and spiritual healings, and they are mostly opposed to orthodox Christianity, particularly Catholicism. These groups, whose leaders, often referred to as “Men of God”,are always at the forefront whenever there are disagreements between Muslims and Christians, and they exhibit more intolerance than all other Christian groups. The Pentecostals attract particularly large congregation of followers, particularly the youth, because of their charismatic appearance and the emphasis on wealth and prosperity Omede, A. J. (2011).

Aside the challenge of religious extremism, one of the most worrying recent security threats to Kaduna State is rural banditry, in which criminals invade rural communities to assault, maim and kill innocent citizens, who are mostly women and children. Still rural communities have been suffering violence as a result of ethno-religious attacks due to suspicion and distrust among ethnic groups. The other threat to security has to do with the incessant blockage of the highways, particularly Kaduna-Abuja and Kaduna-Birnin Gwari, in which criminals abduct or kidnap road users only to release them when ransom is paid. These criminals demand for millions in cash or else they threaten to kill their victims, a situation that has scared away people by completely avoiding the use of the roads. A major observation is that these highway criminals sometimes disguise in police or military uniforms, and mount road blocks in which unsuspecting road users are trapped, forcefully abducted and taken into the forests, while at other times they carry out military-style ambush by opening fire on road users who have no inkling of the situation they are in, and the end result has always been deaths and grievous bodily harm to road users  Olabanji, O. E. & Ese, U. (2014). Based on this background the researcher wants to investigate the chronicle and consequences of insurgency in Kaduna State Olabanji, O. E. & Ese, U. (2014).

Statement of the study

Kaduna State has from the 1980s occupied a volatile position in the history of sectarian tensions and conflicts in Northern Nigeria. From the early 80s, tensions and conflicts between ethnicities, religions and political parties intensified in Kaduna State. In the broader Nigerian context, several groups have evoked the mobilization of ethnoreligious and, all sorts of identities as vital in the struggle for survival. According to Kazah-Toure (2003), the Babangida years in power, 1985-1993, witnessed the growth of sectarian conflicts. Sectarian conflicts were heightened by the economic crisis that started in 1982, and worsened with the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) from 1986 which sought to privatize companies and balance trade

The security challenge posed by domestic insurgency has reached a point where many people are leaving the Kaduna especially Kaduna South to avert being killed by the insurgents and business owners close down their shops, as a result, there is seeming retardation of economic activities in Kaduna State where the insurgency spread their tentacles and such have seriously crippled socio-economic activities in the state.

Objective of the study

The main objective of the study is to find out the chronicle and consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The specific objectives are;

1. To find out the causes of insurgency in Kaduna State
2. To find out the relationship between governance and management of security challenges in Kaduna state
3. To find out the effect of insurgency on socioeconomic of Kaduna state
4. To find out the consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state

Research Question

The following research questions are formulated to guide the study;

1. What are the causes of insurgency in Kaduna state?
2. What are the relationships between governance and management of security challenges in Kaduna state?
3. What is the effect of insurgency on socioeconomic of Kaduna state?
4. What are the consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state?

Research Hypotheses

The following null research hypotheses are formulated to guide the study;

H1: There are no significant causes of insurgency in Kaduna state

H2: There are no significant relationships between governance and management of security challenges in Kaduna state

H3: There is no significant effect of insurgency on socioeconomic of Kaduna state

H4: There are no significant consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state

Significance of the study

The study will be of benefits to students, lecturers, government of Kaduna state and policy makers. The study will give a clear insight on the chronicle and consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state. The result of this study will assist Kaduna state government on how to handle the insurgency in the state. The study will also suggest the solution on the issue of insecurity in Kaduna state. The study will also serve as a reference to other researcher that will embark on the related topic

Scope of the study

The scope of the study covers chronicle and consequences of insurgency in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The study will be limited to people of Kaduna South local government in Kaduna state

Definition of terms

Chronicle: A chronicle is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler

Consequences: a result of an action or situation, esp. (in the plural) a bad result: For someone who is old and weak, the consequences of a broken hip can be serious.

Insurgency: An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas.

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