Roundtable on Emerging Violent Conflicts Trends in Nigeria

Since April 2023, #FriedrichEbertStiftung and Nextier have worked to produce a monthly analysis of violent conflicts in Nigeria under an initiative called the Monthly Nigeria Violent Conflict Bulletin.
The bulletin, leveraging the Nextier Violent Conflict Database, a robust violent incident tracking tool, has captured the key violent conflict challenges every month across Nigeria by analyzing the threats, actors, hotspots, and government responses.

Over the last few months, the bulletin has analyzed conflict incidences and categorized them under Banditry, Farmer-Herder Conflict, Gunmen Attacks, Terrorism, Cultism, Kidnapping, Secessionism, Armed Robbery and Thuggery. It also reflects on government responses to insecurity within the review period and recommendations.

Empowered by the findings from the published bulletins, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Nigeria and Nextier hosted a Roundtable Discussion on Emerging Violent Conflict Trends in Nigeria" on October 20, 2023. The roundtable was a forum for stakeholders to interrogate the Bulletin to validate findings and identify gaps. Nigeria's current security situation was examined, focusing on the root causes, emerging patterns, government actions, and impact on communities and national development.

Some key insights from the roundtable include recognizing the peculiar form(s) of conflicts in each region, which calls for a region-specific mediation strategy, and the spillover effects of the conflicts on food security and education. The panel also deliberated on the factors driving these emerging violent conflicts in Nigeria and further provided an analysis of the response from the government.