The Geopolitics of Resource Extraction and Localized Insurgency: Evaluating Corporate Security Coalitions in the Niger Delta

Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies | Vol. 9, No. 7, July 2018 | pp. 919–927

DOI: 10.46882/2018/GJPCS/090702

Article Type: Original Research Paper

Title: The Geopolitics of Resource Extraction and Localized Insurgency: Evaluating Corporate Security Coalitions in the Niger Delta

Authors: Tari E. Agbamu¹, Blessing N. Udofia²

Authors’ Affiliations: ¹Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria; ²Center for Conflict and Gender Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract:
This study investigates the socioeconomic consequences of private-public security arrangements protecting multinational oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta region. Utilizing a political ecology framework combined with field observations gathered across three oil-producing communities between 2015 and 2017, we analyze the structural links between environmental degradation, corporate security funding, and localized insurgent mobilization. The field evidence demonstrates that the tactical outsourcing of community policing to specialized state military task forces has fragmented local traditional authority systems and intensified communal grievances. Quantitative metrics establish that areas characterized by heavy corporate security footprints experience a 45% higher rate of community-led pipeline disruptions and localized militia recruitment campaigns due to unresolved land compensation claims. The study highlights how the lack of transparent corporate environmental accountability frameworks continues to exacerbate structural economic marginalization. We argue that long-term regional stabilization requires moving away from securitized resource protection models toward legally binding community-corporate benefit agreements that prioritize local ecological restoration and sustainable youth employment.

Keywords: Resource Extraction; Niger Delta; Corporate Security; Insurgency; Environmental Degradation; Local Grievances

Manuscript Timeline: Received: April 02, 2018; Revised: May 22, 2018; Accepted: June 10, 2018; Published: July 18, 2018

Citation: Agbamu, T. E., & Udofia, B. N. (2018). The Geopolitics of Resource Extraction and Localized Insurgency: Evaluating Corporate Security Coalitions in the Niger Delta. Global Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 9(7), 919–927. DOI: 10.46882/2018/GJPCS/090702

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