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A New Name for an Old Practice: Vigilantes in South-Western Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Laurent Fourchard
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Abstract

It is often considered probable that the recent rise of vigilante groups in Nigeria means an erosion of the state monopoly of legitimate violence as well as a marked decline in state sovereignty over the national territory. However, this conclusion does not take into consideration the fact that in Nigeria ‘vigilante’ is a term initially proposed by the police in the mid-1980s as a substitute for an older practice known in the western part of the country since the colonial period as the ‘hunter guard’ or ‘night guard’ system. Hence, instead of looking at vigilante groups as a response to a supposed increase in crime or a supposed decline of the police force, we should consider them – initially at least – as a first attempt to introduce forms of community policing in order to improve the appalling image of the police. As such, in south-western Nigeria ‘vigilante’ is a new name for an old practice of policing that should be considered in an extended timeframe (from the 1930s onward), a period in which violent crime has been perceived as a potential danger. Finally, within the ongoing debate on the ‘privatization of the state’ in Africa, non-state policing in Nigeria testifies to a continuum existing since the colonial period rather than to the appearance of new phenomena in the 1980s or the 1990s.

On considère souvent qu'il est probable que l'essor récent des groupes de vigilantes au Nigeria signifie une érosion du monopole de l'État sur la violence légitime, ainsi qu'un déclin marqué de la souveraineté de l'État sur le territoire national. Or, cette conclusion ne prend pas en considération le fait qu'au Nigeria le terme ≪ vigilante ≫ a été initialement proposé par la police dans le milieu des années 1980 en remplacement d'une pratique plus ancienne connue dans la partie occidentale du pays depuis la période coloniale sous le nom de système ≪ hunter guard ≫ ou ≪ night guard ≫. Ainsi, plutôt que de considérer les groupes de vigilantes comme une réponse à une augmentation supposée de la criminalité ou à un déclin supposé des forces de police, nous devrions les considérer (du moins initialement) comme une première tentative d'introduire des formes de maintien de l'ordre communautaire afin d'améliorer l'image épouvantable de la police. En tant que tel, ≪ vigilante ≫ est, dans le Sud-Est du Nigeria, le nom nouveau donné à une ancienne pratique de maintien de l'ordre qu'il convient de considérer dans une période étendue (à partir des années 1930) au cours de laquelle la criminalité violente était perçue comme un danger potentiel. Enfin, dans le cadre du débat actuel sur la ≪ privatisation de l'État ≫ en Afrique, le maintien de l'ordre non-étatique au Nigeria témoigne d'une continuité depuis la période coloniale, plutôt que de l'apparition d'un phénomène nouveau dans les années 1980 ou 1990.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 78 , Issue 1: Perspectives on Vigilantism in Nigeria , February 2008 , pp. 16 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2008

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