LEAHY LAW AND COUNTER INSURGENCY IN NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examines the operational implications of the United States’ Leahy Law on Nigeria’s counterinsurgency campaign in the north-east. While policy debates have long asserted that human-rights-based conditionality constrained Nigeria’s access to critical military equipment, empirical evidence has remained limited. This research addresses that gap by assessing how restrictions on hardware availability influenced personnel motivation, operational effectiveness, and risk-avoidance behaviour among security forces deployed between 2014 and 2018. A correlational explanatory cross-sectional design was used, and data were collected from 430 personnel through a structured Google Forms questionnaire adapted from validated military readiness and psychology scales. Descriptive analysis showed consistently low levels of hardware availability. Pearson correlations and simple linear regression revealed that hardware availability strongly predicted both personnel motivation and operational effectiveness, while being moderately and negatively associated with operational caution. Higher equipment access corresponded with higher morale, improved combat readiness, and reduced risk-avoidant behaviour. These findings provide empirical support for claims that Leahy-related restrictions significantly influenced Nigeria’s counterinsurgency capacity. The study contributes to ongoing debates on balancing human rights conditionality with the operational requirements of states confronting high-intensity insurgencies.