Dangerous Liaisons: Exploring the risk of violent extremism along the border between Northern Benin and Nigeria

For years, politicians, researchers, policy makers and security officials have speculated about links between extremists in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Ten years ago a study pointed to Benin as a potential link between Nigeria and the Sahel. Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan similarly warn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2024
Main Authors: Kars de Bruijne, Gehrling, Clara
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Border security
Conflicts
Extremism
National security
Terrorism
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:For years, politicians, researchers, policy makers and security officials have speculated about links between extremists in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Ten years ago a study pointed to Benin as a potential link between Nigeria and the Sahel. Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan similarly warned about the training of Boko Haram fighters in Mali and Niger.[1] In 2015, emerging Islamic State affiliates in the Sahel and Lake Chad spurred new speculation. In 2019, the UN Security Council warned of the emergence of a joint Islamic State logistical base in Nigeria’s Sokoto.[2] And in 2020, the International Crisis Group warned that Nigeria’s North West region could soon become a corridor for Sahelian extremists.[3] It is clear what motivates these warnings: a link between Lake Chad and the Sahel is a major opportunity for Al Qaeda and the Islamic State to boast about their profiles as leaders of global jihad. Yet, for just as many years, these ideas have been dismissed as lacking sufficient empirical basis. This report warns that evidence of a link between the Sahel and Lake Chad is now mounting.