Unknown Gun Men and Known Gun Men: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Fighting Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that is rooted in terrorism. In the last two decades, Nigeria has ranked among the League of Nations that are most impacted by terrorism. In the previous five years, Nigeria has ranked among such terrorism-prone nations as Burkina Faso, Israel, Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq, among others. To further strengthen the security architecture around the world, AI, drones and robots are employed for more intelligent control to wage war against insecurity and terrorism in world nations. Nigeria is expected to leverage technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and robotics to combat terrorism, from very severe ones as Boko Haram in the North, Militancy in Southern Nigeria, Fulani herders' attacks on local farmers in Eastern Nigeria, and the horrific kidnapping across Nigerian states to civil unrests such as the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Several government efforts at challenging the status quo have failed, due to an alliance of security operatives with terrorists. This has resulted in leaked strategies to combat terrorist attacks, poor intervention strategies, and a lackadaisical attitude to fight back. AI can optimise time and source leakage of laid-down strategies, while robots can be deployed to launch an attack in open combat. This study employs a Critical Analytical Literature review approach to discuss the consequences of terrorism, as outlined in the extant literature, and how technologies are helping security intelligence restore sanity in the state, while highlighting the obvious challenges that arise