Insurgency and Militancy in Nigeria

It has been observed that studies on insurgency in Nigeria have in the most parts been anchored on politics, law, economy, the environment or religion; highlighting the economic implications of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta and religious crises in the north. Quite a few others have taken into consideration the use of language and representations of the phenomenon focusing on labeling and ideological dimensions inherent in the News. Though insurgency and its media reports are not recent occurrences in Nigeria, most studies on the subject have not engaged the issues prominently from a linguistic view point. The present study analyzed the nature and patterns of language use in portraying insurgent activities in the Nigerian print media. Particularly, it examined the discourse patterns that seem to emerge from the news reports. The study focused on the settings, topical issues and the major actors projected in the content and context of print media reports of insurgent activities in Nigeria. The study presented the linguistic features engaged in the reportage from the perspectives of depiction and revealed discernible patterns of discourse in the reports.