INSURGENCY AS A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY

SUMMARY

This study has been able to examine insurgency as a threat to national security, using the Niger-Delta Insurgency as a case study. The Niger-Delta insurgency has had a lot of effects on the Nigerian state. It has also posed a serious threat to the national security of Nigeria. This is a result of the importance and relevance of the Niger-Delta region to the survival of the Nigerian state.1 This study started by discussing the Origin of the Niger-Delta Insurgency. The origin of the Niger-Delta insurgency can be traced to the expansion of oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria. This happen to also fall within the period of colonial rule in Nigeria. The current conflict in the Niger-Delta region can be said to have first aroused as a result of tension between the minority ethnic group in the Niger-Delta region and the foreign oil cooperations, particularly the Ogoni and the ijaw in the 1990's.2 The conflict which started in the form of peaceful demonstrations and protest by some organised pressure groups in the region has metamorphosed in an armed conflict. One of the reasons for this was the unjust execution of the Ogoni nine among which was Ken Saro Wiwa and other eight agitators by the Gen. Abacha led military junta. The political transition from military regime to civilian administration in 1999,led to the rise in the 71 employment of strategies of kidnapping and hostage taking by the Niger-Delta insurgents.3 This is as a result of the fact that the Niger Delta insurgents saw this opportunity as a very good opportunity to renew their pressure on the federal government to meet their demands. This study also went further in examining the effects of the Niger-Delta Insurgency. Oil workers were the major target of the Niger-Delta insurgents. Victims were taken on their ways to their project sites. Also the children of prominent individuals, politician, contractors and oil workers were also victims of the unstable security in the region.