Abstract
Focusing on the case of Nigeria with the aim to understand what has been missing in terms of the protection of the Nigerian population and the role the NSAGs play, this chapter asks to what extent and how the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has been implemented in response to the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria? The chapter proceeds in three sections. First, it provides a brief background on the roots of the conflict and the scope of Boko Haram’s influence in the region. The subsequent section explores R2P’s implementation in the case of Nigeria through a pillar-by-pillar analysis. It first studies the national response with the aim to understand the extent and nature of the Nigerian State’s failure to protect its population with respect to Pillar One. This is followed by an overview of the international responses to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nigeria in relation to Pillar Two, and a discussion on Pillar Three including the possibility of employing forceful measures. The final section reflects on the lessons that can be drawn from the case of Nigeria for future implementations of R2P.
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Notes
- 1.
Campbell and Rotberg (2021) report that President Buhari, in a meeting with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, requested the headquarters of the US Africa Command to be moved from Germany to Nigeria to get the US more involved in the fight against jihadist groups. It is unclear, however, whether or not the US would like to be drawn into such a conflict and if the President Buhari is inclined to address the allegations of corruption and economic mismanagement in the country.
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Açıkyıldız, Ç. (2022). Boko Haram in Nigeria: R2P and Non‐State Armed Groups. In: Gözen Ercan, P. (eds) The Responsibility to Protect Twenty Years On. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90731-0_5
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