尼日利亚人讲述着他们关于土匪活动的经历。“这个村子一个月不会没有有人被杀。”
Nigerians tell their stories of banditry. ‘A month will…
Banditry is widespread in Nigeria but knowledge about its character and nature is limited.
土匪活动在尼日利亚非常普遍，但人们对它的性质和本质了解有限。
Banditry is widespread in Nigeria. It has been defined as “a loose collection of various criminal groups involved in kidnap-for-ransom, armed robbery, cattle rustling, rape and sexual violence, pillage and attacks on traders, farmers and travellers, particularly in Nigeria’s northwest region”.
土匪活动在尼日利亚普遍存在。它被定义为“一群参与绑架勒索、武装抢劫、偷牛盗马、强奸和性暴力、掠夺以及袭击商人、农民和旅行者的犯罪团伙，尤其是在尼日利亚的西北地区”。
This criminal activity has caused deaths, displacement, destruction of property and widespread fear. In 2025 alone, 599 attacks were reported, with 2,742 casualties. This was a sharp increase from 2024, when 256 attacks and 1,585 deaths were recorded. Banditry has also extended its reach to the northwest and southwest of Nigeria.
这种犯罪活动造成了死亡、流离失所、财产破坏和普遍恐惧。仅在2025年，就有599起袭击事件被报告，伤亡人数达2,742人。这比2024年的记录（当时有256起袭击和1,585人死亡）有了急剧增加。土匪活动的范围也已延伸到尼日利亚的西北部和西南部。
Studies have examined its costs and implications, and possible mechanisms for addressing it. Still, knowledge about the nature and character of banditry remains limited.
研究人员已经考察了其成本、影响以及可能的应对机制。然而，关于土匪活动性质和特征的了解仍然有限。
As a sociologist, I investigated this national security threat with a view to understanding how the victims experienced it.
作为一名社会学家，我调查了这一国家安全威胁，旨在了解受害者是如何经历它的。
The study unpacks the method and timing of attacks and identities of the bandits, providing insights that can inform security planning. Knowing more about how bandits operate can help government and vulnerable communities to design preventive measures and adopt safety behaviours.
本研究深入分析了袭击的方法、时间以及土匪的身份信息，提供了可为安全规划提供参考的见解。更了解土匪的运作方式，可以帮助政府和弱势社区设计预防措施并采取安全行为。
Rural banditry in Nigeria
尼日利亚的农村土匪活动
The study used data collected through in-depth interviews with focus group discussions in four of the six geopolitical zones where the problem of banditry is most widespread and prevalent: North-Central, North-West, South-West and South-East. The sample included 48 communities. Two key informant interviews were conducted in each local area: one with a state security official (police, military, paramilitary, or community vigilante) and one with traditional or community leader.
该研究使用了在六个地缘政治区中，土匪问题最为普遍和流行的四个区域收集的数据：中部北部、西部北部、西南部和东南部。样本包括48个社区。每个当地地区都进行了两次关键知情人访谈：一次与州安全官员（警察、军队、准军事人员或社区民兵）进行，另一次与传统或社区领袖进行。
All the participants reported that their communities had experienced violent attacks by bandits, although at different times and in different ways and to varying degrees. They also emphasised the brutal nature of bandit violence.
所有参与者报告说，他们的社区曾遭受土匪的暴力袭击，尽管时间、方式和程度各不相同。他们还强调了土匪暴力的残酷性质。
Experiences ranged from farm invasion and destruction to animal theft, killing and kidnapping, gang rape and sexual violence, displacement of people and the pillaging of communities.
经历的范围从农场入侵和破坏到偷窃牲畜、杀人、绑架、集体强奸和性暴力、人员流离失所以及社区掠夺。
Responses highlighted that:
回应强调了以下几点：
the timing was typically late at night or early in the morning
时间通常是在深夜或清晨。
men were more frequently killed than women
男性被杀的频率高于女性。
women were more likely to be abducted and forced into marriages with bandits instead of being killed
女性更有可能被绑架并被迫与土匪结婚，而不是被杀。
although bandits were often strangers to the locations of attacks, insiders often helped them carry out attacks
尽管土匪通常不熟悉袭击地点，但内部人员经常帮助他们实施攻击。
bandit groups imposed levies on some communities
土匪团伙对一些社区征收了苛捐杂税。
bandits often carries out operations on market days or Sundays.
土匪经常在市场日或周日进行行动。
Alluding to the brutality of bandit attacks, a participant noted:
一位参与者提到，这体现了土匪袭击的残暴性：
There was an attack by bandits where we lost over 20 people. We had the mass burial in a single day.
土匪曾发动一次袭击，我们损失了超过20人。我们一天内就进行了集体埋葬。
Participants, especially from rural communities in the North-Central and North-West regions, reported how frequent violent attacks forced many residents to vacate their villages, becoming internally displaced, suffer trauma, and live in perpetual fear.
参与者，特别是来自中部北部和西部北部的农村社区的居民报告说，频繁的暴力袭击迫使许多人不得不离开他们的村庄，成为国内流离失所者，遭受创伤，并生活在持续的恐惧之中。
According to a survivor of bandit attacks in Plateau State:
根据一位普拉托州土匪袭击幸存者的说法：
A month will not go by without someone being killed in this village by bandits. That is how bad and frequent it is.
一个月不会过去，而没有有人被土匪杀害。就是这么糟糕和频繁。
How bandit attacks happen
土匪袭击是如何发生的
Data showed consistent patterns of attack across all four selected regions in Nigeria. Typically, participants reported that bandits come armed with knives, daggers, sticks, guns, machetes and cutlasses. When they launch an attack, they shoot their victims; afterwards, they may slaughter them with knives to ensure death.
数据显示，在尼日利亚选定的所有四个地区都存在持续的攻击模式。参与者通常报告说，土匪携带刀、匕首、棍棒、枪支、砍刀和割喉刀等武器。当他们发起攻击时，会射击受害者；之后，他们可能会用刀残杀他们以确保死亡。
At other times, to destroy entire communities, bandits reportedly bring gas to burn villages. Participants also identified the weapons associated with bandits as AK-47, G3S and K2 rifles, swords and pump-action guns, among others.
在其他时候，为了摧毁整个社区，据报道土匪会带燃气来烧村庄。参与者还指出与土匪相关的武器包括AK-47、G3S和K2步枪、剑以及泵动式枪械等。
Bandits ensure that their victims are attacked at times when people are off guard. A traditional leader said:
土匪确保他们的受害者在人们毫无防备的时候遭到攻击。一位传统领袖说：
they come even twice or even thrice in a week. I think their plan is to stop us from going to the farm. Whenever we go, they either kill us or others on the farm, or they wait until people are returning home then attack them on the road, snatch their machines, and either kill or injure them.
他们一周甚至两次，甚至是三次都来。我想他们的计划是阻止我们去农场。无论我们何时去，他们要么在农场上杀掉我们或其他人，要么等到人们回家的路上再袭击他们，抢走他们的机器，然后杀死或伤害他们。
Victim targeting
受害者目标群体
Participants explained that everyone in any community affected is a potential victim. They might be farmers, when farms are destroyed. When villages are destroyed, everybody, young and old, male and female, becomes a victim, as houses are burnt, property stolen and lives endangered. In cases of kidnapping, the bandits sometimes have specific targets, which vary depending on their mission.
参与者解释说，任何受到影响的社区中的每个人都可能是潜在的受害者。如果农场被毁，农民可能会成为受害者。当村庄被毁时，无论男女老幼，每个人都会成为受害者，因为房屋被烧，财产被偷，生命受到威胁。在绑架的情况下，匪徒有时会有特定的目标，这些目标根据他们的任务而变化。
Most victims of kidnapping are wealthy and highly placed individuals in society, especially those whose families are believed to be able to raise the ransom.
绑架的受害者大多是社会上富裕和地位较高的人士，尤其是那些其家人被认为有能力支付赎金的人。
Men are the main victims of rural banditry, as they can challenge the attackers. But as men are killed, women became widows and children are left fatherless. Participants said the bandits often abducted women. One stated:
男性是农村土匪的主要受害者，因为他们能够挑战攻击者。但随着男性的死亡，女性成了寡妇，孩子则失去了父亲。参与者说，匪徒经常绑架妇女。有人提到：
Whenever they come, they say ‘men come out’ but they only take women they find attractive and take them away, and make them their wives.
“每当他们来时，他们会喊‘男人出来’，但他们只带走那些觉得有吸引力的女人，把她们带走，当作自己的妻子。”
In some other areas, women fell victim to rape, theft, and in some cases, murder. After the death of their parents, children became destabilised and some were withdrawn from school. During attacks, men sometimes fled for their safety, leaving their families behind, whereas mothers could not abandon their children.
在一些其他地区，女性遭受了强奸、盗窃甚至谋杀的侵害。父母去世后，孩子们变得不稳定，有些人退学了。在袭击期间，男性有时为了安全而逃离，将家人抛下；然而母亲无法抛弃自己的孩子。
Moving forward
展望未来
The study found the character and nature of banditry to be violent and associated with specific times and spaces. Banditry manifested in the activities carried out by organised armed groups, including cattle rustling, farm destruction, kidnapping, looting and killings. These activities have heightened insecurity, led to deaths and displacement, and disrupted the livelihoods of households and farming communities.
该研究发现，土匪行为的特征和本质是暴力的，并与特定的时间和空间相关。土匪活动表现为有组织武装团体所实施的行为，包括偷牛、破坏农田、绑架、掠夺和杀戮。这些活动加剧了不安全感，导致死亡和流离失所，扰乱了家庭和农业社区的生计。
Rural communities need to know how to detect and report security threats in time to prevent them. Informal security organisations in such communities should align with the formal state security. Federal and state governments should also collaborate to find bandits where they hide.
农村社区需要知道如何及时发现和报告安全威胁以进行预防。此类社区中的非正式安全组织应与正式的国家安全力量保持一致。联邦和州政府也应合作寻找藏匿的土匪。
Oludayo Tade receives funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund TETFUND/National Research Fund NRF TETF/DR&D/CE/NRF2020/HSS/03/VOL.1.
Oludayo Tade 接受来自 Tertiary Education Trust Fund TETFUND/National Research Fund NRF TETF/DR&D/CE/NRF2020/HSS/03/VOL.1 的资助。
