Ethnic communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region have shared experiences in the structural causes of violent conflicts that have been extensively discussed in the literature. But the outbreak of violence led to the emergence of armed militant groups in only few communities and localities in the region. This paper seeks to explain why militant groups emerged in some communities and not in others even though all communities in the Niger Delta experience similar structural factors associated with conflicts in the Niger Delta. The paper argues that the three factors that are principally responsible for this situation are the geography of the communities, the period of the Niger Delta insurgency and the individual profile of leaders of militant groups. It notes that armed militant groups emerged in communities where and when these three factors are in agreement. The paper is based on secondary data sources on existing research on the Niger Delta and primary data from the author’s ethnographic research with ex-militants and other members of communities in the Niger Delta. It geographically maps key militant groups and their operational base in the Niger Delta. It goes further to explain the relevance of timing and individual profile of armed militant leaders in the emergence of these groups. The paper concludes with some insights on how these factors continue to shape the socio-political order in the Niger Delta even after the de-escalation of violent conflicts through an amnesty and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration implemented by the Nigerian government for ex-militants in the Niger Delta.
