ABSTRACT The article covers the territorial dimension of the north Mozambican insurgency. Based on the analysis of the local context and security, economic and identity dimension, it measures the level of territorial control of Ansar al-Sunna. The analysis argues that despite a success of the group to dominate over some population centres, the actual level of territorial presence is rather low. As such, Ansar al-Sunna does not present a viable alternative for the local population and thus creates an opportunity for the state administration to uproot its presence and recapture the region of Cabo Delgado in case it is able to provide meaningful services to its inhabitants.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to analyse the dynamics of violence against educational facilities and students in northwest Nigeria, specifically carried out by bandits. By employing qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, a comprehensive understanding of these attacks is sought. The paper notes schools and students are disproportionately targeted by bandits and are becoming vulnerable for various reasons. These include pervasive failure of governance, diminishing presence of the state in maintaining order, general lack of protection by the government, perceived weakness of students to mount resistance, and bandits’ propensity for illicit profit through ransom payment by victims. These affect the students in six principal ways: loss of lives, increasing burden of fear, rise in sexually transmitted diseases, decreasing enrolment in school, abandonment of educational facilities and forced displacement. In the milieu of banditry in Nigeria’s northwest, it is crucial to adopt the peacebuilding approach and implement security sector reform, safe school initiatives, development, social support and strategic health care delivery to victims in order to successfully eliminate, neutralise, and disrupt (END) attacks by bandits targeting educational facilities.

ABSTRACT This research employs a theoretical framework to investigate the interplay between factors that lead from predatory governance and predatory rule to military coups, utilising the frustration-aggression theory as its guiding lens. It adopts a case-oriented approach and employs thematic analysis to examine the socio-economic, governance, and political environment that precipitated the August 2020 Malian military coup. Presenting seven key themes, it reveals how predatory rule and its manifestation in the Malian context, was a critical factor in paving the way for the military coup. The study provides critical reflections into the historical, regional, and political dynamics reshaping Africa’s changing political landscape. It presents a conceptual model to comprehend how predatory governance fosters conditions favourable for military coups. Insights from the Malian case study offers valuable perspectives for analysing events in comparable contexts. This understanding is crucial for grasping the precursors and impact of predatory rule and popular frustrations in contexts where military coups emerge.

ABSTRACT In November 2018, the State of Cameroon announced the creation of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) to organise, supervise and manage the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former Boko Haram fighters and armed groups in the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions. The need arose as communities had been hosting successive waves of former Boko Haram associates. This research focuses on those communities where reintegration routes are either off or upstream the institutional framework set by the government. Based on a field survey and available literature on the current security crisis in the Far-North region of Cameroon, the study describes the profiles of these ex-hostages and ex-combatants that are grouped under the term of ex-associates. Reception conditions as well as the ordalic reintegration mechanisms put in place by the communities’ leaders are also analysed. The challenge of identifying and counting those ex-associates exhaustively and the delay in implementing a coherent national reintegration strategy make it quite illusory to envisage a credible alternative to that still existing community model.

ABSTRACT This study examines the geostrategic importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), discusses its potential trade impacts on African states, and considers whether it could support regional peace. Regional integration is crucial for achieving industrialisation, promoting trade across African borders, and preserving regional peace and security. Inextricably linked to regional integration is a security community comprising a distinct group of individuals for whom the likelihood of large-scale conflict or violence has diminished. A comparative analysis was conducted using Africa’s trade patterns, milestones, and achievements during 2015–2017 and 2022–2023. Subsequently, the key causes of insecurity on the African continent were explored, focusing on the Regional Economic Communities and states embroiled in coups during 2020–2023. The findings suggest that African authorities view the AfCFTA positively and believe economic integration may bring about peace. However, African authorities would require a strong continental strategy – supported by robust regional and national programmes – to promote investor confidence and trade, considering Africa’s high levels of intercommunal violence, civil unrest, violent extremism, terrorism, and transnational crime. The AfCFTA delayed trade liberalisation to protect Africa’s less developed economies, resulting in poor working conditions, intellectual capital loss, and decreased tax collection.

ABSTRACT This study examines the United Nations’ counterterrorism efforts in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB), with a focus on the persistent challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Using a critical analysis approach, the research appraises the legal, policy, and empirical dimensions of the UN’s counterterrorism strategies. It delves into the evolution of terrorism in the LCB, the emergence of Boko Haram, and the socio-economic and geopolitical factors contributing to the issue. The study argues that the UN and the Multinational Joint Task Force’s (MNJTF) efforts in the LCB have experienced successes but face challenges like porous borders, weak governance, and complex geography. It contributes to the global terrorism discourse by highlighting the intricate challenges in implementing effective counterterrorism measures in a region with unique political, social, and environmental contexts. The study recommends a multi-pronged strategy that incorporates context-specific conditions, financial disruptions, and eco-security measures. It underscores the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration and sustained global commitment for achieving lasting peace and security in the LCB.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to examine the processes, methods of conflict resolution, and methods of offender-community re-integration used by the local peace committees (LPCs). To achieve these objectives, the study used a qualitative research approach with the help of interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and document reviews to collect data in the study area. The study revealed that the LPCs follow a series of conflict resolution procedures from receiving cases to reconciliation ceremonies. The study further identified different methods of conflict resolution used by the LPCs to settle conflicts of different kinds. Furthermore, the study discovered that the LPCs are using the re-integrative shaming method to re-integrate the offender into the community. In conclusion, despite the very promising conflict resolution role they have, the LPCs are not without limitations. However, the commercialisation of the conflict resolution process by some LPC members, the politicisation of the LPCs, globalisation, and urbanisation are found to be the challenges that compromise the conflict resolution role of the LPCs in the study area. The study, therefore, recommends that working to alleviate the limitations associated with the system and use the LPCs as an asset for successful conflict resolution is important.

ABSTRACT Mounting security challenges in the Global South provoke scholarly discussions on multi-actor and multi-dimensional interventions, especially the role of private security organisations. Yet, while broadly revealing the growing influence of private security firms and/or anecdotes of periodic private-public security collaborations in contemporary security provision in developing countries, the related literature offers little discussion about the potential for sustained systemic partnerships between public and private security organisations to tackle contemporary security challenges. Contributing to the broader discourse on hybrid governance, this research examines the potential of private-public security operational collaborations and how they could address contemporary security dilemmas in Ghana. The article draws on semi-structured interviews with actors from private and public security sectors to demonstrate the potential of effective private-public security partnerships in the areas of intelligence gathering and logistical (re)enforcement; community education and operations; and surveillance. The data suggest that while private and public securities operate under different structures, codes, and conditions, the three areas present real possibilities for a hybrid security context, which could significantly reduce crime and general security concerns in the country.

ABSTRACT This article examines the growth, development, and spread of Boko Haram in West Africa and al-Shabaab in Eastern Africa with a view to drawing lessons to prevent the similar development of Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama (ASWJ) in Southern Africa. Recent developments of ASWJ in northern Mozambique send genuine fears among policymakers and scholars that unless tamed at this early stage, there is a high possibility that the group might spread and engulf large portions of Southern Africa with devastating consequences to peace security and development in Southern Africa. Evaluating the environment that allowed al-Shabaab and Boko Haram to evolve, grow, spread, and take root in Eastern and West Africa, respectively, this article argues that a similar environment exists in Southern Africa and that the fear of the ASWJ becoming a threat to regional security and development in the subregion is not far-fetched. It is therefore important to learn lessons from the two militant groups with a view to proposing viable ways to forestall the spread of ASWJ across Southern Africa.

ABSTRACT In the past decade, there has been a surge in deadly internal conflicts in Nigeria. The state’s failure to decisively address violent skirmishes through its modern conflict-resolution mechanisms has resuscitated the debate on the role of traditional rulers in conflict resolution. Although the relevance of traditional institutions in conflict contexts has been well acknowledged in many studies, their complicity in the onset and preponderance of conflict remains understudied. Using a mixed qualitative research design, this paper interrogates the nexus between unethical practices of traditional rulers and conflict in Tivland, north central Nigeria. It hypothesises that in the examined case study, the quest for personal aggrandizement unwittingly heightened corrupt behaviour among traditional rulers, leading to conflict emergence and protraction. To curb the impunity that currently undergirds conflict in Tivland, we recommend that traditional rulers found culpable in conflicts should be dethroned and prosecuted as deterrent to others. Also, traditional leadership selection processes should be merit-based, as opposed to the current practice of offering stools to cronies of state authorities.