Key informant interview questions, Benin

Q1: How have you sustained your family and how has your life been over the past year?

Q2: What relationship does your community have with communities on the other side of the border? Probe: With which groups specifically? And what are the shared activities that you have with them?

Q3: There are also religious relationships with Nigeria. Are you aware of the following Sunni movements: Yan Izala, the Tabliq? Do these presently operate in Benin and since when? Are there any other religious movements that come from Nigeria?

Q4: We then move on to the economic relationship with Nigeria. How important is the market on the other side of border for the community and for you?

Q5: What are the three most important goods that move from your town over the border and vice versa? Who is involved in transporting these goods? Which routes are used?

Q6: Some argue that there are more cattle coming in from Nigeria and being sold in Benin. Have you noticed any change during the last year?

Q7: In June 2023 fuel subsidies were cut in Nigeria and the prices went up there. Has there been any change in the fuel situation in your area? Is more/less fuel being smuggled? Are other people involved?

Q8: What is the safety and security situation in your area? What about kidnapping, cattle rustling and banditry?

Q9: In Nigeria, there are large bandit groups. It appears that some of these groups move their families to Benin to live here. To what extent do you think that this has occurred in your area?

Q10: There are large hunting groups in the area. What contacts do these groups have with Nigeria?

General questions, Nigeria

Q1: Over the past two years there have been reports of VEOs present in/around Kainji National Park in Nigeria. For example, there was an attack in October 2022, on the Wawa detention center in Kainji, and there are claims that Sahelian fighters were involved. What are your insights on this? Numbers, social identities, where would Sahelian fighters come from, main type of economic activity?

Q2: Towards the North (Kebbi State border with Benin) there may have been activity recruitment from Nigeria into Benin (e.g. in Segbana from Bagudo LGA and Dandi LGA (Kebbi State)). Any reading on this? What groups could be linked?

Q3: How would you describe the nature of the relationship between bandit groups along the border with Benin and with Ansaru, ISWAP and Boko Haram/Darul Salam? IS there a potential for them to cooperate beyond an ad hoc basis?

Q4: Apart from violent extremism, what social/ethnic groups are most prominently involved in the cross-border trading from the Bagudo LGA and Dandi LGA (Kebbi State) towards Benin?

Q5: The Borgu LGA (Niger State, Nigeria) seems to be a shared ethnic zone with the Borgou region in Benin. What cross-border social links do you see? To what extent do hunting groups operate in the Borgu region of Nigeria (please share names).

Q6: What do you consider are the most lucrative goods and specific smuggling hubs in Northern area (Kebbi-Benin) and the Southern area (Kainji, Nigeria)? What are the main modes of trafficking across the border; what routes are key?

Q7: Cattle rustling seems to be on the increase in Benin. Are you aware of any changes in the links on cattle between Benin and Nigeria since 2022?

Q8: To what extent are you aware of cross-border kidnapping between Nigeria and Benin? Is it organised with specialised network (and who?) or is it rather opportunistic activity by individuals/group?

Q9: In June 2023 fuel subsidies were cut in Nigeria and prices went up. What has been the consequence for smuggling to Benin and for those involved in the trade? How did both groups respond?