FACTORS UNDERLYING THE TRANSFORMATION OF VIOLENT RADICALISED GROUPS IN THE SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA, 2003-2014

Abstract

Globally, violent radicalised groups (VRGs) pose a threat to national security. Oodua Peoples‟ Congress (OPC) and the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) who initially emerged as groups set up to fight against perceived marginalisation and insecurity in South-West and South-East regions later got metamorphosed into violent radicalised groups threatening the national security. OPC on its own has a history of violence with recorded cases of clashes and violence with Nigeria‟s security agencies (Nigeria Police and Army) at Arepo in Ogun State over cases involving oil installations protection, among others. Existing studies on VRGs have largely concentrated on their emergence and proliferation, with little attention paid to factors underlying their transformation. This study, therefore, was designed towards examining the factors that led to transformation of OPC and MASSOB to VRGs, the interface with security agents in the process of transformation, the political economy that influenced the transformation and perceived influence of the groups from 2003 to 2014 in the South-East and South-West, Nigeria. Social Movement, Political Economy and Dollard‟s Frustration-Aggression theories served as the framework, while an exploratory survey design was adopted. Primary and secondary data were obtained. South-East and South-West Nigeria were purposively selected as the homelands of OPC and MASSOB respectively. A sample of 452 respondents was drawn using Cochran‟s (1977) sample size formula. A structured questionnaire was conveniently administered to community members in Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, Osogbo, Ibadan, Awka, Aba, Onitsha, Owerri and Enugu, the instrument covered all the research objectives and was complemented by in-depth interviews and focused group discussions. Ten In-Depth Interviews got conducted with four community leaders, two each zone and six youth leaders, three each from each zone. Six focus group discussions, three each from each zone were held with youth associations. Secondary data were obtained from journals, newspaper reports, internet sources and other relevant publications. Data gathered were content analysed. The OPC and MASSOB were transformed into VRGs as a result of politics of ethnicity and agitation for regional sovereignty. MASSOB was basically formed to advance the interest of the Igbo (53.5%), OPC was reported as ethnic movement (56.0%). It was discovered from the qualitative data that the long term political marginalisation compounded with Nigeria law enforcement agencies‟ reaction to their conducts accounted for transformation of the groups into VGRs. Law enforcement crackdowns on the groups (63.0%), repressive nature of the state (51.0%) and arrest of their leaders triggered the transformation to VRGs. Relatedly, „growing poverty‟ and stiffening economic realities contributed to the radicalisation of the youth wings of the groups thus posed threats to live and political stability in the country. Despite the transformation to VRGs, 45.0% opined that OPC had been very helpful in securing lives and property in the South-West, while 67.0% indicated that MASSOB had been effective in the sensitisation for the actualization of the Biafra state. The perceived ethnic or tribal marginalisation with political agitation of the Yoruba and Igbo ethnic groups were pivotal in the transformation of OPC and MASSOB to violent radicalised groups from 2003 to 2014 in the Southwestern and Southeastern regions of Nigeria. There is the need to build reliable democratic process for inclusive representations of all geopolitical zones in Nigeria.