Vigilantism, State, and Society in Plateau State, Nigeria: a History of Plural Policing (1950 to the Present)
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Vigilantism, State, and Society in Plateau State, Nigeria: A History of Plural Policing (1950 to the present) A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr Phil) in African History awarded by BIGSAS at Bayreuth University By Jimam Timchang Lar Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Achim von Oppen November 2015 i ii Summary The focus of my doctoral research is to account for the emergence and continued existence of a plural policing landscape in Plateau State, Nigeria. Plateau State, the spatial context of my doctoral project is an administrative unit of Nigeria’s federal structure. The research seeks to trace and shows an otherwise little known link between the plural policing landscape of colonial Nigeria and the evolution of a new plurality of policing, that began to emerge in the first decade after independence and has continued to evolve in response to changing political and social contexts. To do this, the research seeks to answer three main questions: First, who are the groups that have constituted and still constitute the main actors in a plural policing landscape? In other words, what are their origins; how have they been structured and internally organised? The second question is to understand how these groups encounter the Nigerian state. The research is interested in examining the dynamics that characterize relationships and interactions within a space of plural policing. The third key question of this doctoral research is focused on understanding the effects and impacts of non-state policing, as a phenomenon what does it create? How have these groups responded to changing political and social context? To conduct this research I have largely deployed historical methodology, embedded in qualitative methods. This is to specifically account for the origins and changing forms of plural policing, but also to examine its contemporary manifestations, selected ethnographic methods have been deployed to complement the historical methods of data collection. I rely on primary and secondary data. The historical and contemporary salience of the phenomenon of plural policing led me to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach that draws from history, sociology, anthropology and political science. The conceptual framework is constructed based on how the concepts of the state, vigilantism, authority and plurality of security institutions are understood and situated within the research context. The concepts I engage with are in two categories, the first category are concepts that provide the empirical context of the thesis (state and vigilantism), and the second category provides us with the basis for understanding the relational dynamics (plurality and authority) of the empirical context. My analytical framework seeks to accommodate useful ideas from the different disciplines that contribute to our understanding of the historical role of state and non-state actors in plural policing. In this thesis, I have made four major arguments. i The first main argument is that current forms of institutionalised plural policing in Plateau State, Nigeria can be traced back along a historical trajectory to the institutionalisation of paramouncy in the chieftaincy institutions of the Plateau province from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The dismantling of the former Native Authority Police in the late 1960s, the Nigerian government’s policy in the mid-1970s to reform local government, and the attempt by traditional rulers to re-assert some semblance of influence and authority. The major link in this process of institutionalising plural policing is the institution of traditional rulership. The processes of negotiating change revolved around the traditional rulers. Furthermore, I demonstrate how the Nigerian state was involved in the formation of vigilante groups in the 1980s; the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) influenced this. Furthermore, following on this argument I have tried to show that even though having evolved on different trajectories the macro processes analysed speaks to the need to reform Nigeria’s current policing structures. Secondly, I have argued that the current plural policing landscape in Plateau State Nigeria is a product of different influences over the historical trajectory. The earliest and most profound influence on policing has been the influence of the military. This process of socialisation has been midwifed by Nigeria’s war history (1st and 2nd World War, and the Nigerian Civil War). Socialisation was based on army ideals and practice because most recruits in the first instance were soldiers. After several decades of military rule, the police themselves had not come out unscathed. In sum, the Nigerian military had largely played an instrumental role in the socialisation of institutions, groups, and individuals who make claim to providing policing services and the maintenance of law and order. Also important in these institutional trajectories of policing are influences drawn from the immediate socio-political landscape, cultural templates of law and justice, and the interventionist state sponsored socialisation, as manifest by the influences of the colonial and post-colonial state police. What emerges from this argument and analysis of socialisation is that what we are currently witnessing may be an advanced stage of institutionalised plural policing but it is not yet definitively formed. The process is yet still unfolding before our very eyes for example the recent active involvement of vigilante groups and hunter associations in the fight against insurgency in northeast Nigeria, has created new dynamics of socialisation, institutionalisation and legitimation of plural policing. ii Following from the two previous arguments where I have showed how the institution of policing in Nigeria has gone through different periods and experienced different processes. From the composition, structures and ultimately practice have not remained static. My third argument is to suggest that while understanding these processes at the macro level is important, the picture is however only complete when we extend the analysis to the micro narrative. Therefore, I have examined the transformation of plural policing by focusing on micro narratives. I have tracked and analysed everyday policing practice from the lens of the NAPF and vigilante groups. On one hand, this means understanding the practice of the NAPF and vigilante groups as it relates to plural policing during British colonial rule, when the NAPF were active and the period from the late 1970s to the 1990s, which tracks the emergence and acceptance of vigilante groups as part of the policing landscape. On the other hand, this micro narrative focus has equally offered insight into the relationship between the NAPF / vigilante groups and the Nigerian Police Force, again this has been historicised from the lens of the NAPF and the vigilante groups. Using profiles of NAPF men and vigilante group members we are able to weave together an intimate history of plural policing. This is in contrast to some existing literature, thus, it is in such ventures that this thesis makes effort of departure from existing literature. If there is a core thrust of this perspective, it is the argument that macro analysis of policing while important in presenting and understanding grand trends ultimately provides a partial and insufficient analysis of what transpired. As part of this micro focus, I also engage with the use of violence as policing practice. This refers to the everyday use of violence by the NAPF, and by the vigilante groups that succeeded the NAPF. I argue that there is domestication, legitimisation, and an institutionalisation of violence; there is a societal acceptance tacit and complacent of the use of violence as part of policing practice. It is in such context that I have analysed and understood state and non-state policing violence. The last major argument of this thesis is drawn from an analysis of the latest stage of plural policing. I argue that the latest and current feature of this plurality is characterised by the activities of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), a semi-official citizens policing organisation registered in 1999 with Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission. The objectives of the VGN as is clearly spelt out in the organisation’s constitution is to support state agencies (particularly the Nigerian police) in combating crime and general maintenance of law and order in society. Therefore, plurality in this context refers to a policing landscape that actually iii bridges the state and non-state divide. Furthermore, I argue that an example such as the VGN questions the formulation of vigilant practice as something, which solely confronts and contest the writ of the state. My thesis seeks to show that in studying current policing practice we have to take into account the role of non-state actors, not always as a spontaneous communitarian response to a weak or absent state but rather as an extension of the state. Plural policing as historically evolved and currently practiced in this part of Nigeria is about statecraft from below. What has emerged from this study reveals that the vigilante groups that emerged from the historical process of institutionalisation of plural policing actually support the state and its agencies. Therefore, while the Bakassi Boys, the OPC and the Hisbah were emerging on to the scene the VGN was being registered, consequently the structures, organisation, and practices of vigilantism were being further transformed with the active approval and involvement of the state. In sum, the study contributes in a very innovative way to the debates on state building in Africa, debates on vigilante practice, and policing. iv Acknowledgements To God be the glory for all the great things he has done. The successful completion of this thesis would have not have been possible without the support and contribution of several institutions and individuals. I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Dr. Achim von Oppen, for his devotion to excellence and his critical approach to scholarship. My thesis benefited immensely from his patience, insightful suggestions and very generous feedback.