An investigation of the effects of ethno-religious conflicts on security in Taraba State, Nigeria, 1991-2020

Abstract

Since independence, Nigeria has been experiencing high level of violence, crime and criminality in all geo-political zones, posing great threat to national security, and social, political and economic development. Such disturbing phenomena include the political crises of the First Republic; the religious crisis of the 1980s; the ethno-religious crises of the post-1999 era; the activities of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and Bakassi boys; the Niger-Delta crisis; to the insurgency in the North-Eastern region and armed-herdsmen violence, particularly in the Middle-Belt region. All these phenomena have created disturbing security challenges to the peoples of the immediate environments of the incidents, and the whole nation, thus affecting nation-building. This paper adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, examines the security challenges posed by ethno-religious conflicts, particularly in Taraba State of Nigeria. The research interrogates the challenges posed by the phenomena mentioned, and finds, among other things, that in the past 60 years, the incidents have significantly contributed to the slow pace of social, political and economic developments in the area. The paper suggests, among other things, tolerance and responsive governance, to curtail envisaged security challenges facing Taraba State, and Nigeria in general.