Ethnic Vigilantes and the State

The Oodua People's Congress in South-Western Nigeria

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4444367
AutoresI Nolte (0000-0002-8003-9989, University of Birmingham, autor correspondente)
Ano2007
Volume21
Fascículo2
Páginas217-235
Data de publicação2007-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0047117807077005
OpenAlexW1967153215
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas28

Based on the example of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC) in Nigeria, this article argues that vigilante activities are embedded in a range of social relations and historical trajectories. While vigilantism transforms relationships of power within the state, it does not necessarily undermine all aspects of state authority. After the annulled presidential election of a Yoruba speaker in 1993, the OPC was founded with the explicit political aim of safeguarding Yoruba ethno-nationalist interests vis-à-vis the state. By fighting crime, and state institutions perceived to be implicated in the perpetration of crime, including the police and military, the OPC's vigilantes have undermined and challenged the state's security institutions. Representing the state as both weak and strong, the OPC has undermined the state's control of security but legitimised and strengthened the state as a mechanism of political decision-making and social reform

Criminology · Ethnic group · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Presidential system · Safeguarding · Sociology · State (computer science) · Yoruba · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Public Administration · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence