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The ambience of unconventional violence orchestrated by Boko Haram insurgents in North-East Nigeria has occasioned precarious civil and humanitarian atmosphere in that area. The exigency of the situation has necessitated an equally unconventional civil security response, as exemplified in the involvement of volunteer vigilantes in counter-insurgency operations of the state. Relying on a synthesis of primary and secondary research, based respectively on field interviews/ discussions and library/desk sources, the paper evaluates the role of volunteer vigilantes in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in North-East Nigeria. The paper posits that the outcome of this emergency approach to security has been largely inconsistent and seemingly contradictory: while the vigilantes have been effective in degrading the strongholds of the insurgents through localized reconnaissance and counter-offensives in collaboration with the military, they have also contributed to intensifying the insurgency by engendering selective reprisals attacks by the insurgents on communities that are associated with the vigilante forces. Coupled with their manifest negative attitude to human rights, as well as their seeming potential for disintegration into amorphous armed militias in the aftermath of the counter-insurgency operations, the paper submits that the involvement of volunteer vigilantes in counter-insurgency is a dicey strategic option given the fragile security regime in Nigeria wherein the practice is liable to counter-productive and abusive outcomes.

Nigeria: Volunteer Vigilantism and Counter-Insurgency in the North-East