Aniche, Ernest ToochiAlumona, Ikenna MikeIwuoha, Victor ChidubemIsike, ChristopherNnamani, Rebecca Ginikanwa2024-07-182024-07-182023-06Aniche, E.T., Alumona, I.M., Iwuoha, V.C. et al. ‘Your Land or Your Life’! ECOWAS Free Movement Regime, Migration, and Resource Conflicts in West Africa. Society 60, 320–332 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-023-00857-6.0147-2011 (print)1936-4725 (online)10.1007/s12115-023-00857-6http://hdl.handle.net/2263/97097West African borderlands still depict free labour migration that weaves a complex grid of relations and inter-dependences over the ‘artificial’ borders inherited from colonialism. Migrants consider the sub-region as a single cultural and socio-economic unit within which trade and services are intertwined across countries, and where border crossing is a main part of people’s lives and livelihoods. This study reflects on migration and violent resource conflicts in West Africa such as migrant herders-farmers conflict in Nigeria to interrogate the wider security implications of ECOWAS free movement protocols in the sub-region. It links the deepening resource scarcity in the sub-region to the increase in undocumented migration. The study concludes that due to poor enforcement of ECOWAS visa-free regime and competition for scarce resources, the migration-conflict nexus has intensified banditry and violent conflicts in West African borderlands, especially between herders and farmers in Nigeria.en© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023. The original publication is available at : https://link.springer.com/journal/12115.BanditryBorderlandsHerders-farmers conflictInsecurityMigrationNigeriaWest AfricaSDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutionsPostprint Article