Non-military actors, IED networks and guerrilla warfare: unpacking small wars dynamics within the conflict landscape in Southeast Nigeria

Mark Peter Jatau

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2025, vol. 36, issue 6, 1106-1134

Abstract: The deployment of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Southeast (SE) Nigeria has escalated significantly yet remains underexplored in scholarly discourse. This field-based study examines the key drivers and operational dynamics of IED deployment, focusing on its effects on military operations. Drawing on and extending asymmetric warfare theory, the study reconceptualises SE Nigeria as a site of networked subnational insurgency, where non-military actors (NMAs) weaponise ethno-political grievance, improvised technology and terrain advantage to sustain guerrilla campaigns. Findings demonstrate how IED networks leverage social embeddedness, tactical bricolage and community complicity to exacerbate small wars. The study suggests kinetic and non-kinetic strategies.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2025.2503365

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