Contextualizing Banditry and Government’s Response amidst an Insurgency in Nigeria

Purpose: The word banditry and or Fulani or nomadic herdsmen and its usage in the Nigerian lexicon is a product of context, depending on who uses it and determined also by where the user is from. In Nigeria like elsewhere in the world, even the usage of words becomes political as the choice of its usage is determined by where an incident of banditry takes place or who is commenting about it. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper attempts to contextualize banditry and governments response to it, to do this the paper made use of extant literature and adopted the frustration-aggression displacement theory to explain why the essence of the social contract and Nigerians' constitutional provision stipulated in chapter II subsection 14(b) must be respected and guided. Findings: The paper found put that among other things national security of every state is paramount, when a state becomes anything but secure the people would lose hope in the state when the people lose hope in the state they find solace in crime and criminality Implications/Originality/Value: the paper concluded and recommended that government must first of all show genuine commitment to fighting criminal elements in the country in all guise.