Beyond Proscription: Rethinking Government Response to ‘Yan Shilla’ Gang Violence in Yola Metropolis of Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Adamawa State in North-Eastern Nigeria has been battling with the Boko Haram crisis for over a decade. While the group is yet to be significantly decimated, a new gang known as Yan Shilla has emerged and continues to wreak serious havoc among the inhabitants of the state. Within a month of the emergence of a new political administration in the state in May 2019, the group was banned. This paper critically examines the implications of the proscription of the group, and general peace and security of the state. Using the theory of securitization, the paper argues that, although proscription of the group has heralded attention of security agents to the threat of the group, it does not constitute sustainable management of gang violence in the state. The root of the crises such as widespread poverty, decadence in education, and increase in school drop-out rates have fuelled the emergence of the criminal gangs in the state. Consequently, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government and the state in question should consider addressing the root causes of its myriad of security challenges by addressing widespread poverty, education, and unemployment among the youths. Similarly, the government should prioritize education through funding and also criminalize political patronage of these gangs by the politicians. Finally, it is also recommended that good governance should be entrenched in the political administration of the state.