Niger’s July 2023 coup also disrupted a long-standing protection system that enabled many traffickers to operate with a high degree...

The extended closure has fuelled the smuggling by boat of migrants as well as licit commodities across the Niger Rive

Some civilians reportedly still travel to JNIM bases in the bush near Boni to negotiate movement, including into town.

"Banditry has a long history in north-west Nigeria, dating back to the pre-colonial period."