Nigeria: Rural Banditry and Community Resilience in the Nimbo Community

Abstract

This paper examines the upsurge in rural violence in Nigeria occasioned by the activities of armed herdsmen. Focusing on the 25 April 2016 invasion of Nimbo Community in Enugu State, the paper argues that rural governance de icit and absence of effective security tending mechanisms took a turn for the worse. The major inding is that, beyond the common con lict triggers, the factionalization of a local vigilante in Nimbo bred criminal activities that escalated the tensed milieu. Traditional qualitative method of research was applied. The paper suggests prioritization of rural security in terms of intelligence gathering, response to early con lict warning signals and combat operations, as well as a multi-stakeholder consensus in mapping out mutually-rewarding terms of engagements for the pastoralists and sedentary farmers.