Article

Determining the termination of a non-international armed conflict : an analysis of the Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria

Solomon Ukhuegbe and Alero I. Fenemigho

• Nigerian yearbook of international law, vol. 2018/2019, 2021, p. 299-327

English

Bibliography : p. 324-327

Compared with the fairly settled rules on the termination of an international armed conflict (IAC), those relating to the termination of a non international armed conflict (NIAC) are unclear and no definitive guidance is offered by case law and literature. The ongoing decade-old Boko Haram insurgency in North-eastern Nigeria has been characterised as a NIAC for 6 years. At the end of 2016, the Nigerian government declared the insurgency over, but this is not the reality. At least, not yet. This paper analyses the rules for determining the termination of a non-international armed conflict from the perspective of the Boko Haram insurgency. This is done with a view to finding an objective endpoint, if any, by which the insurgency as a NIAC may be considered over legally. In the view of the authors, the Boko Haram insurgency is a ‘textbook example’ of the problem of determining the end of a NIAC, especially with the current factionalization of the armed group. This paper analyzes the situation up to early 2019.

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