Community-Based Security Initiatives and Recovery in Conflict-Affected North-East Nigeria: Implications for Sustainable Peace and Local Security Governance

The Boko Haram insurgency remains a major security and humanitarian challenge in North-East Nigeria, with prolonged violence affecting civilian protection, livelihoods, social cohesion, and local governance. Against this backdrop, community-based security initiatives (CBSIs) have become important actors in local security governance and post-conflict recovery. This study examines the contributions of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), traditional institutions, faith-based organizations, women’s associations, youth groups, and civil society organizations to community resilience and sustainable peace in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the study draws on documentary analysis of [Eight core empirical documents] documents published between 2013 and 2026, comprising Nigerian government policy documents, reports of international organizations, peer-reviewed scholarship, and civil society publications. Anchored in Local Ownership Theory and Security Governance Theory, the analysis suggests that CBSIs play important complementary roles in intelligence gathering, civilian protection, conflict mediation, and community resilience, while their effectiveness is constrained by weak institutional regulation, inadequate funding, accountability concerns, human rights allegations, and limited coordination with formal security agencies. The findings are interpreted as documented patterns within the documentary evidence rather than as estimates of causal effects. The study argues that sustainable security governance requires clear institutional mandates, accountability safeguards, transparent financing, legal oversight, and structured coordination between community-based actors and formal security institutions.