International Security Journal Number 1 Issue 1 ISSN 2045-2195 2011 Trans-national threats and national security concerns: A study of Nigerian-Benin Republic border Ngboawaji Daniel Nte Department of Social Studies River State University of Education Nigeria
[email protected] Abstract This work is a research paper that tried to examine the trans-national threats posed by crimes across the Nigeria-Benin Republic border and the impacts on the national security of both countries. The study found out that such crimes as; smuggling, child and women trafficking, small and light weapon trafficking and trafficking of narcotics across the border. These crimes, the study notes pose serious threat to national security. The study which relied on primary and secondary data tested four hypotheses which gave useful guides to policy implications and recommendations that will help improve security at the Nigeria-Benin Republic border if adopted. KEY WORDS: Trans-national Threats, Security, Nigeria, Benin Republic, Globalisation, Crime. 1. Introduction While the international order among states is quite strong, the world is not peaceful. In the wake of globalization and the explosion in communication technologies, new security related threats have emerged that are to a great extent independent of national boundaries. As a result, a new kind of war is being waged in every country all over the world; this is because the primary threats to national security have changed fundamentally. They no longer spring from territorial and ideological disputes among nation states but from how far globalization, technological threats and criminal networks have grown to challenge nation states (Zalur & Zeckhauser 2002).