Negotiated Frontiers and the Geographies of Displacement in the Lake Chad Borderlands

This article examines negotiated frontiers and the differentiated geographies of displacement in the Lake Chad borderlands, focusing on the Nigeria–Niger border. While scholarship has examined insurgency, forced displacement and border governance, less attention has been given to how these processes interact in the everyday experiences of displaced populations and borderland communities. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted 2-29 May 2023 across four selected towns in Nigeria and Niger, the study uses 36 interviews with security officers, academics, vigilantes, community leaders, motorists, former combatants, refugees, internally displaced persons and aid workers, complemented by observations and informal conversations. Thematic analysis using NVivo shows that border governance operates through simultaneously negotiated and rigid practices, producing differentiated experiences of mobility, immobility and humanitarian protection. The article argues that displacement is both shaped by border governance and contributes to its continuing reconfiguration through mobility strategies, local mediation, and encounters with security and humanitarian institutions.