ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to show how the fear of repeated violence and consistent failure of the state to deliver on its promise to guarantee the security of life and property of its citizens has led the Muslim and Christian communities in Jos to engage in mutual profiling and bordering practices based on socio-spatial differentiation of identities. It falls within this discursive and symbolic realm of political geographer's interest in borders. The chapter examines how ordinary citizens have exercised bio power in dealing with insecurity, engendered by ethno-religious segregation. It also examines spatial segregation and the relationship between bordering and security during a period of conflict in the city of Jos. Private contractors have exploited the growing opportunities offered by the increased securitization of borders including the application of surveillance devices such as biometric technologies As residents remain 'vigilant and security-conscious', their symbolic bordering 'telescopes' can easily detect the strange appearance of the other in their securitized space.
