Nigerian state and the management of armed conflicts: rethinking the amnesty approach

Abstract

This paper examined the amnesty approach from a two-dimensional approaches of the central and sub-national governments in the management of structural conflicts in Nigeria. Using the case study approach, the study explains how the actions of individuals (or groups) escalate militancy, insurgency and banditry, as well as undermine the amnesty initiatives of national and subnational bodies in Nigeria. We argued that: administration bordering on crass corruption is the unacknowledged goal of amnesty; the complicity of state actors is the direct consequence of this unacknowledged goal; and there is a clear link between the financial compensation/payment to the bandits/militants and the proliferation of attacks and armed groups. Thus, in the regions we focused on, there was a proliferation of militant, insurgent and bandit attacks as well as fatalities in the post-amnesty period because of the complicit role of political actors in fuelling insecurity to justify continuous financial investment in these initiatives and present more opportunities for further misappropriation of the amnesty funds. This finding questions the appropriateness of multi-layer amnesty programmes as a conflict management strategy.