RELIGION AND VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
social identity theory, treating religion not as an independent cause but as the connective mechanism through which identity attachments, elite manipulation, ecological stress, and threat perception combine into sustained violence. The study shows that although only about 4.3% of security events (2020-2024) are explicitly religion-targeted, religious framing amplifies broader grievances over land, resources, governance failure, and elite competition. The implications for national security are severe: territorial fragmentation, erosion of social cohesion, economic stagnation, military overstretch, massive internal displacement (over 3.7 million IDPs nationwide as of early 2026), and risks of regional contagion across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. The paper concludes with multi-layered recommendations spanning governance reform, climate adaptation, interfaith initiatives, and international partnership, arguing that only a holistic approach addressing both ideological drivers and structural root causes can safeguard Nigeria's stability.
Keywords: Religious violence, Boko Haram, ISWAP, farmer-herder conflict, national security, Nigeria, terrorism, internal displacement.