The question of how far and in what manner rebel groups strive to govern civilian populations in areas under their control is receiving increasing attention (Mampilly 2011; Arjona et al 2015). West African countries sadly have much experience of rebel insurgencies from which to draw lessons. This paper concentrates on a comparison of the experiences of individual countries in the region which have each suffered the impacts of multiple rebel regimes. An outstanding case is Nigeria where experience dates back to the Biafran War and which is currently faced by the contrasting attacks of rebel bandits in the Delta; Boko Haram in the North and herder/agriculturalist clashes to the Middle Belt. Other regional examples of countries with multiple rebel groups include Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Those special cases involving coups where the rebels succeed in taking over government in the capital city at the national level offer particularly rewarding comparative insights. Drawing on data from fieldwork by African PhD researchers linked to the Australian University of New England’s Peace Studies Centre and the wealth of secondary data, this paper sets out a possible typology to classify the patterns of rebel governance within individual countries and across the region.
