Gangs in Nigeria: an updated examination

Abstract

This paper analyzes gangs in Nigeria, providing an updated examination of their current strategies and activities. The premise of this analysis partly draws on Social Identity Theory, with respect to gang affiliation. Particularly explored are (1) gang cultism as a common phenomenon on college campuses in Nigeria (through their malicious, secret, fraternity-like activities) and (2) the role of Islam in Nigerian gangs. The case study of the 'Yan Daba, urban gangs particularly found in the northern part of Nigeria, is used to illustrate the authors' arguments. A brief comparison of Nigerian Muslim gangs with European Muslim gangs is also provided.

Gangs in global perspective

“…Gangs in the global city (1) Gangs are deviant and temporary adolescent departures from a progressive path of modernization While most gangs are unsupervised teenage peer groups, many others have institutionalized in ghettos, barrios and favelas across the world Gangs are paradigmatically an American form, a by-product of industrialization and urbanization Gangs are found all over the world and today often respond to the changing spaces of globalizing cities Gangs are mainly youthful products of social disorganization and are not primarily racial or ethnic organizations Gangs are "social actors" whose identities are formed by ethnic, racial and/or religious oppression, through participation in the underground economy and through constructions of gender NOTE: (1) This is the name of the volume of collected works in which this new approach is discussed; see Source below. 30. see reference 6, Matusitz and Repass (2009). factors such as family fragmentation, domestic abuse or psychological constitution do not appear to be consistently significant.…”

“…6. For example, on timor-leste, see tlAVA (2009), "Groups, gangs and armed violence in timor-leste", tlAVA Issue Brief no 2, 8 pages; also, on nigeria, see Matusitz, J and M Repass (2009), "Gangs in nigeria: an updated examination", Crime Law and Social Change Vol 52, pages 495-511; and on Haiti, see Kolbe, A R (2013), "Revisiting Haiti's gangs and organized violence", HiCn Working Paper 147, Institute of Development studies, sussex, 37 pages. social stability.…”

“…see reference 32. 55. there is some interesting work on particular aspects of gangs and religion from different perspectives: for example, see reference 26, Barrios (2007); also see reference 6, Matusitz and Repass (2009); and Wolseth, J (2008), "safety and sanctuary: Pentecostalism and youth gang violence in Honduras", Latin American Perspectives Vol 35, no 4, pages 96-111; also, on gender: see, for example, Hume, M (2008), "the myths of violence: gender, conflict and community in El salvador", Latin American Perspectives Vol 35, no 5, pages 59-76; also Moestue, H and J lazarevic (2010), "the other half: girls in gangs", in small Arms survey Geneva, Small Arms Survey 2010: Gangs, Groups and Guns, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and new York, pages 185-207;and Miller, J (2001) analyzed in their social, spatial and institutional context, and that rather than fixed definitions, we may think about proposing new frameworks that work with categorical spectrums. The study by Luke Dowdney, discussed below, is an excellent contribution to this emerging field.…”

“…28. see reference 5.29 Young, J (2007),. "Globalization and social exclusion: the sociology of vindictiveness and the criminology of transgression", in J M Hagedorn (editor), Gangs in the Global City: Alternatives to Traditional Criminology, University of Illinois Press, Urbana/Chicago, page 79.30. see reference 6,Matusitz and Repass (2009).…”

‘Exist, endure, erase the city’ (Sheher mein jiye, is ko sahe, ya ise mitaye?): Child vigilantes and micro-cultures of urban violence in a riot-affected Hyderabad slum

“…Most studies on conventional gang behaviour emphasize the importance of sexualization and territorialization of violent gang activities, a vital rule for dividing and ruling marginalized city spaces (Alexander, 2000; Bourgois, 1996; Venkatesh, 2009). Scholars specifically exploring the dynamics of Muslim gangs in urban neighbourhoods show how the latter draw power and sustenance from upholding the sovereignty of Islam (Ewing, 2008; Hart, 2002; Matusitz and Repass, 2009). In Sultanpur, however, street patrolling and delivering social justice; the absence of territoriality and formal gang initiations; revulsion for sexual violence and looting; the distancing from religious labels – all created a new culture of organized violence at the intersection of vigilantism, soldiering, neo-gangism and childhoods relegated to the fringes of urban life.…”