The Nigerian Military in Internal Security Operations Considerations, Capabilities, Contributions, and Challenges

Section 1: Background and Policy Framework

1. Introduction: The Nigerian Military in Internal Security Operations

Samuel Oyewole

2. Military, Military Responses and Militarisation of Internal Security Management in Nigeria

Freedom Chukwudi Onuoha and Kelechukwu Dennis Ezeh

Section 2: Military Institutions and Partners

3. The Nigerian Air Force in Internal Security Operations

Francis Okpaleke and Samuel Oyewole

4. Nigerian Military and Intelligence Agencies in Internal Security Operations

Adewunmi J. Falode, Wazeer Murtala, and Wasiu A. Balogun

Section 3: The Nigerian Military in Sectarian Conflicts

5. The Nigerian Military in Ethno-Communal and Religious Conflicts

Gbeke Adebowale Adenuga

6. The Nigerian Military and the Civil War, 1967-1970

Oluwaseun Osadola, Olawale Gbadeyan, and Samuel Oyewole

Section 4: The Age of Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency

7. Nigerian Military and the War Against Militancy in the Niger Delta Region

Saheed Babajide Owonikoko

8. The Nigerian Military and the War against Boko Haram

Nsemba Edward Lenshie, Celestine Ogechukwu Okafor, Ogbue Sylvia Chinaza, and Obadiah Daniel Pastor

9. The Nigerian Military and the War against Separatist Movements

John Sunday Ojo and Kazeem Oyedele Lamidi

Section 5: War against the Emerging Criminal Frontiers

10. The Nigerian Military and the War Against Armed Banditry

Talabi Rasheed Ayegbusi, Ayodele Haruna Mustapha, and Sulaiman Amoo Raji

11. Nigerian Military's Role in Combating Illegal Mining and Refining of Natural Resources

Seun Bamidele and Babatope M. Ajiboye

12. Caught in the Web of Smuggling: the Armed Forces and Anti-smuggling Operations in Nigeria Samuel Asua Asua and Itoro Bassey Ebong

Section 6: Conclusion

13. Concluding Reflection: The Nigerian Military in Internal Security Architecture

Samuel Oyewole

Biography

Samuel Oyewole is Programme Coordinator for Research at the African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP), South Africa, and lecturer at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria. His research interests cover military and strategic studies, emerging technologies, and African affairs. He is the author of Utilitarianism in Outer Space (2024), and co-editor of Boko Haram’s Terrorist Campaign in Nigeria (Routledge, 2021), Armed Banditry in Nigeria (2024), and The Political Economy of Kidnapping and Insecurity in Nigeria (2024).

"This book is an MRI of the Nigerian military and its numerous deployments in internal operations. Samuel Oyewole has put together a highly comprehensive and robust volume for scholars and students of the military and the state. This is one for the records."

Temitope Oriola, Professor of Criminology at the University of Alberta and former president of the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) and the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS).

"At a time when Nigeria is battling multiple, yet interconnected security threats, this book is a timely and important contribution to discussions on civil-military relations and state capacity. By bringing together leading scholars and practitioners, the book, edited with remarkable coherence by Samuel Oyewole, provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of the Nigerian military’s capabilities, capacities, contributions and limitations. [...] For me, this depth of intellectual honesty is perhaps one of the things that sets this book apart and makes it highly recommended for policymakers, researchers, journalists and students desirous of a balanced, nuanced understanding of Nigeria’s evolving security landscape."

Adejuwon Soyinka, West Africa Regional Editor, The Conversation and Founder, The Insight Vodcast.

"The Nigerian Military in Internal Security Operations: Considerations, Capabilities, Contributions, and Challenges arrives as an urgently needed resource to provide the required insight into a subject matter that has in recent times evoked so much debate following widely held orthodoxy about internal security being the traditional responsibility of the Police. What distinguishes this volume is not merely its comprehensive coverage but its relentless grounding in empirical exposition of the subject matter. [...] This volume is an indispensable companion to students of security studies and all those who are genuinely interested in solving the plaque of internal insecurity in Nigeria." 

Ikenna Mike Alumona, Professor of Comparative Politics and Security Governance, Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

"This book comes at a testy time in Nigeria’s contemporary history. It comes as a comprehensive and groundbreaking documentation, analysis and projection of the future of Nigeria’s military intervention in internal security operations in Nigeria, particularly in the Fourth Republic. Given its nuanced analysis, this book becomes the first of its kind, timely and essential for practitioners, policymakers and scholars in peace and national security. [...] The conclusion of the book provides evidence-based recommendations for transforming Nigeria’s internal security architecture, making it an indispensable resource for policymakers, security professionals and conflict analysts determined to find sustainable solutions to complex internal security threats." 

Gbemisola Animasawun, Professor of Strategic Studies and Director, Centre for Peace & Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.