Women, Insurgency and Organized Crime in Northern Nigeria: Overlapping Networks and Survival Strategies

• In Event: Organized Crime, Extremist Violence, and Insurgency

Abstract

Insurgency and organized crime in Northern Nigeria are complexly interconnected and create intricate survival dynamics for women. While women are often framed as victims of terrorism, they also play diverse roles in insurgency-linked criminal activities, engaging in forced participation through negotiations with insurgents and their communities. This study explores how poverty, gender norms, and structural violence shape women’s participation in these networks, whether through coercion, necessity, or strategic agency.
Using qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews, oral historiography, and ethnographic fieldwork, this research explores women’s economic survival strategies and the social consequences of their involvement in insurgency and terrorism. The study applies feminist criminology, intersectionality, and structural violence theories to analyze how systemic inequalities, gendered power, and social structures influence women’s engagement in and disengagement from these networks.
Moving beyond victimhood narratives, this paper highlights women’s agency, resilience, and adaptive strategies in conflict zones while addressing the broader implications for Northern Nigeria's security and social stability. It adds to sociological and criminological debates on insurgency and organized crime, highlighting how women’s gendered experiences shape illicit economies and guiding more inclusive policies for post-conflict reintegration.

Author

• Azeez Kareem-ojo, West Virginia University