International Law and Statelessness: The Legal Status of Marginalised Communities in Nigeria’s Border Zones

This research empirically examines the risk of statelessness among marginalised communities in Nigeria's border zones, focusing on the legal implications for communities in the North West and North East whose civil documentation is incomplete or whose national identity is contested. Statelessness, defined as the condition of a person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law, is addressed by the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, neither of which Nigeria has ratified. Using a mixed legal-empirical methodology combining analysis of these conventions and UNHCR statelessness guidelines with field survey data from border communities in Borno, Yobe, and Sokoto States, the study maps the prevalence of documentation gaps and assesses the risk of statelessness under international law. It fills a gap in the literature on statelessness in West Africa, which has focused disproportionately on the Gulf of Guinea coastal states. The paper examines Nigeria's birth registration systems, the operations of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and the legal consequences of documentation failure for access to citizenship rights. Findings indicate significant populations at risk of effective statelessness in northern border zones, driven by conflict displacement, nomadic lifestyles, and weak civil registration capacity. An original risk assessment framework for statelessness in border communities is developed. Recommendations include ratification of both statelessness conventions, expanded NIMC reach in border areas, and mobile birth registration campaigns. Keywords: statelessness, civil documentation, border communities, North East Nigeria, UNHCR.