RESURGENCE OF ISLAMIC STATE IN WEST AFRICAN PROVINCE (ISWAP) AND THE MENACE OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA: SOCIOECONOMIC AND SECURITY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

The resurgence of violent terrorist attacks in different parts of Nigeria has once again brought to the front burners of national discourse the precarious security challenges facing the country. Every day, the nation is faced with unprecedented wave of criminality and insecurity, especially those being perpetrated by terrorist groups operating in the northern part of Nigeria. Since the advent of some of these terrorist groups, like the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), in the mid-2000s, the security and territorial integrity of Nigeria has been consistently threatened and undermined. In this vein, the major thrust of this paper, therefore, is to examine the menace of terrorism in Nigeria and its socio-economic and security implications for the nation. Using the rational choice theory as a theoretical framework, the paper argues that despite the plethora of factors that may trigger terrorism and insurgency in a state, the act itself remains a heinous crime in many countries of the world. Lastly, the paper adopts the descriptive and qualitative method of scientific inquiry, with a reliance on secondary data, and concludes by asserting that though terrorism is a relatively new phenomenon in Nigeria, but the level of violence, impunity and insecurity it has engendered in the polity lately is capable of destabilizing the Nigerian state if not adequately tackled now.