Hybrid Security and the Erosion of State Monopoly: Vigilantism, Informal Security and Political Order in the Lake Chad Basin

Abstract

This study investigates the evolving security architecture of the Lake Chad Basin through the lens of hybrid security governance and the erosion of the state’s monopoly on violence. In the aftermath of the unchecked Arab Spring conflicts, the region’s historically porous borders, especially along Northern Nigeria and the broader Sahel, became conduits for the diffusion of armed groups, religious extremism, and illicit arms. Longstanding issues of ethnic intolerance, political marginalisation, and chronic state neglect intensified an already fragile context, creating ungovernable spaces where vigilante groups and communal militias have emerged as de facto security providers. In many rural areas around the Lake Chad shores, communities have taken up arms not in rebellion, but in rejection of a state that has largely abdicated its protective function. However, this rise in non-state security actors  complicates the legitimacy of formal security frameworks, disrupts national sovereignty, and transforms the nature of political order. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach. Data were gathered through interviews with key stakeholders, questionnaires administered across four Lake Chad-adjacent states, content analysis of media reports, and panel data (2020–2025) on vigilante activity and trust indices. Findings show that vigilante groups have proliferated in direct response to state neglect and ungoverned territories, but their operations, while locally legitimised, often challenge state authority and blur lines of accountability. The study draws on the principle that political vacuums invite informal authority structures, applying this to theorise a model of complementary insecurity. It concludes with recommendations including internal border reform, integrated intelligence frameworks, and community-state security compacts to navigate the emerging plural security order.