Samuel Oyewole – författare

This book investigates the devastating impacts of the Boko Haram terrorist campaign in Nigeria, reflecting on the group’s historical context, organizational dynamics, and emerging trajectories.Since its inception in 2002, Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign has become one of the major threats to security and human development in West Africa, killing tens of thousands of people, and displacing many more. This book reflects on the origins and development of Boko Haram, contextualizing it in the global trend of militant Islamist movements. It delves into the tactics of the organization, their deployment of sexual and gender- based violence against women and human rights abuses in the war against them. The war against Boko Haram has seen engagement from the international community, national and regional military operations, and also a range of civilian- led movements. This book reflects on the roles of these different actors, and the emerging trajectories that need to be considered in order to eradicate Boko Haram.Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives, this book will be of interest to researchers across the fi elds of sociology, political science, African studies, and peace and conflict studies.

This book investigates the devastating impacts of the Boko Haram terrorist campaign in Nigeria, reflecting on the group’s historical context, organizational dynamics, and emerging trajectories.Since its inception in 2002, Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign has become one of the major threats to security and human development in West Africa, killing tens of thousands of people, and displacing many more. This book reflects on the origins and development of Boko Haram, contextualizing it in the global trend of militant Islamist movements. It delves into the tactics of the organization, their deployment of sexual and gender- based violence against women and human rights abuses in the war against them. The war against Boko Haram has seen engagement from the international community, national and regional military operations, and also a range of civilian- led movements. This book reflects on the roles of these different actors, and the emerging trajectories that need to be considered in order to eradicate Boko Haram.Drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives, this book will be of interest to researchers across the fi elds of sociology, political science, African studies, and peace and conflict studies.

In Nigeria, armed banditry has emerged as a contemporary threat to national security. Commentators and scholars have repeatedly pointed to overlapping foci such as herders-farmers'' conflicts, warlordism, ungoverned spaces, transnational criminal networks, and the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) from Libya as dynamics influencing the current security dilemma in Nigeria. The emergence of armed banditry has triggered the prevalence of everyday killings, kidnapping for ransom, property destruction, and cattle rustling. However, the group''s origin remains obscure, while its objectives and organizational structure are fuzzy.

This book aims to unravel the evolution, dynamics, and trajectories of armed banditry in Nigeria. As it explores the activities of armed banditry in Nigeria, the debate will focus on its historical context, socio-economic consequences, transnational dimensions, and the response to armed banditry in Nigeria. Furthermore, the book will explore whether the scourge of armed banditry represents a new terrorist organization with a distinct ideological orientation (if at all) or another non-state armed group creating and profiting from a criminal economy through the reign of terror. In response to the increasing concern for the criminal activities of armed banditry in Nigeria, the book anticipates unpacking its emerging trends and operational nomenclature.

Providing unique perspectives on one of the leading hotspots of kidnapping in the world, this book examines the political and socioeconomic dimensions of the causes, manifestations, and consequences of kidnapping in Nigeria, as well as some of the control measures that have been adopted at different levels of governance and their effectiveness.

The topics covered in the volume include details on the framework of understanding kidnapping, the evolution of kidnapping from pre-colonial to post-colonial eras, and the relationship between ungoverned spaces and kidnapping in the country. The book further sheds light on kidnapping in the context of insurgent campaigns, with insights into oil-related militancy in the Niger Delta region, with the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism in the Northern region of Nigeria. It discusses non-insurgent kidnapping, situating kidnapping in the contexts of banditry, ransoming, ritualism, baby factory, and human trafficking. Additionally,the volume analyses the emerging gender and transnational frontiers of kidnapping in Nigeria. Expanding the discussion on state responses, this book also looks into responses of non-state actors to kidnapping as well as negotiations in hostage crisis management. Finally, it examines other unique subjects, such as media coverage of kidnapping, and the consequences for Nigeria’s international image.

The book will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of political science, international relations, economics, sociology, history, law and business management in general, as well as African studies, security studies, criminology, peace and conflict studies, and geography and area studies. It will also be helpful for public policy-makers, African security experts and professionals, as well as business managers, risk analysists and insurance industry that are interested in a better understanding of kidnapping and associated political, social, economic, and security dynamicsin Nigeria and beyond.

This book showcases Nigerian and South African experiences on space politics, policy and strategy vis-à-vis their development and security aspirations, while contributing to the broader African and the Global-South perspectives on the subject. Space policy in developing countries such as Nigeria and South Africa is motivated by utilitarian promises that space and the attendant technologies have the potential to advance development and security interests of the affected nations. However, several decades into the orbital journey of these countries, little is known of their space politics, policies, strategies, capacities and capabilities, and realisation of desired objectives. Beyond pure and applied sciences reductionism, this book offers social science perspectives on space studies in Africa, as it examines the intricate relationships of historical, geographical, social, demographic, economic, political, administrative, and strategic factors, nationally, regionally and globally thathave shaped research and development of space science and technologies, and their benefits, in Nigeria and South Africa.