Community-Based Border Policing: Towards Complementing Border Surveillance Strategy in Countering Human Trafficking on the Nigeria–Niger Border.

The article examines the persistent challenge of human trafficking along the Nigeria–Niger border and argues for the adoption of community-based border policing (CBBP) to complement the existing border surveillance strategy (BSS). Despite Nigeria’s reliance on analogue and digital surveillance methods, factors such as porous borders, inadequate personnel, corruption, and exclusion of border communities have limited the effectiveness of BSS in curbing trafficking. CBBP involves integrating local border communities—who possess critical knowledge of the terrain and illegal routes—into border security governance to enhance cooperation and intelligence sharing. The study, based on ethnographic research in key border towns, concludes that formal inclusion and incentivization of border residents in policing efforts, supported by collaborative funding between Nigeria and Niger, could strengthen border security and mitigate human trafficking.