RELATIVE IMPACT OF CRIME INCREASE IN NIGERIA
(A CASE STUDY OF
EPE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA)
BY
OGUNFODUNRIN OLUWASEUN ADEWALE
MATRIC NO: EKSU/EPE/12/0797
A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ART AND SOCIAL, EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKTI.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (ED) IN SOCIAL STUDIES
DECEMBER 2017
CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that this study was
carried out under my supervision by Mr Adegbola A.A and has been approved as
meeting the requirements of the faculty of Arts and Social, Department of
Social studies, University of Ado- Ekiti Nigeria.
_________________ ________________
Mr.
Adegbola A.A Date
iii
DEDICATION
This
project is dedicated to the Almighty God, the author and finisher of my faith,
who saw me through the completion of my programme. The work is also dedicated
to my kind parents Mr & Mrs Ogunfodunrin.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My
gratitude goes to the almighty God, the Alpha and Omega; author and finisher of
my faith, the counselor, the Almighty God, the miracle worker who has been
faithful to me through the years of my course and has made this project possible.
To
my project supervisor, Mr A.A Adegbola, I am most grateful for your help and
support in making this research project a huge success. May the good Lord bless
you abundantly and make your ay prosperous.
Also,
my thanks goes to my dean, school of Arts and social sciences, in person of Mr
Okebukanla, my HOD, Mr Bola Sebiomo and also to all my lecturers, Mrs. Saka,
Barrister Idowu, Dr. Oshodi O.O, Dr Ashikhia, O.A and others who in their
endless effort have impacted knowledge in me. God bless you all.
I
seize this wonderful opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my loving
mother, my love, sent Angel; Mrs Ogunfodunrin for her kindness, sponsorship and
words of encouragement through out the period of my programme. May God bless
you beyond measure and make you eat the fruit of your labour in Jesus name
(Amen).
I
also acknowledge my sent angel; my daddy; mr A.K Ogunfodunrin (a.k.a Grandpa)
may the good lord continue to bless you abundantly.
I
also appreciate my brothers and sisters; Mrs Ibrahim, aunty Seyi, Mrs
Odunrinde, Dideolu Ogunfodunrin Abimbola, Mr Segun Ogunfodunrin, Mr Jamal Caleb
Apena, Fasesin family, Odunuga, Oluwasun, Sola Odunkomaiya, may God grant you
all your wishes in Jesus name. Amen
I
also wish to acknowledge the efforts of Omotoprecious Ventures in the
typesetting of this work.
v
ABSTRACT
Crime is an act or offence punishable by law, there
are different types of crime ranging from stealing, murder and forcible rape,
robbery aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson, embezzlement, forgery,
homicide, white collar crime, prostitution, pornography, gambling, drug use,
juvenile delinquency, etc. The aim of this research was to identify the impact
of crime increase and its causes on the society. The assumption was that the
effect of crime increased is caused by environmental factor, social factor,
economic factor, hereditary factor. The study therefore examines various
textbooks, journals and magazine to extent fact for the development of the
research units for academic contribution. Questions were used for data collection while
the data analyses were based on simple percentages. The house and religion
organization have important roles to play in curbing the crime wave in Nigeria.
These criminals live in homes and receive religion instruction from religion
group. The family heads and religion leaders should pay more attention to the
moral upbringing of these youths. If these youths are given the right training
from childhood they will not depart from the right path. In essence, for the
problem of crime to be reduced, we have to reduce, we have to reconstruct the
educational sector to better equip our youths to cope with the changing time in
our economy. This has a significant role in reducing crime because we find out
that students who graduate from institution of learning have no job because
they have not been properly schooled in the prevailing way of life and as such
due to frustration, the youth of today may result to criminal activities.
vi
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE OF PAGE
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
1.1 Background
of the Study 1
1.2 Purpose
of the Study 11
1.3 Statement
of the Problem 12
1.4 Significance
of the Study 12
1.5 Research
Hypothesis 13
1.6 Scope
of the Study 13
CHAPTER
TWO: Literature Review
2.1 Concept
of Crime 14
2.2 The
Concept of Crime and Theory of Crime Causation 15
2.3 Anthropological
Biogenetic Theory of Crime 16
vii
2.4 Sociological
Theories of Crime 17
2.5 Marxist
Theory of Crime 18
2.6 Martun’s
Theory of Anomie 18
2.7 The
Impact of Crime Increase In Nigeria Society 20
2.8 Relative Impact of Crime Increase in
Nigeria Society, Increase in the 23 Cost of Crude-Oil, Fuel-Subsidy
(Crude-Oil)
2.9 Economic And Financial Crime
Commision (EFCC)
And Political
Corruption Implication for the Consolidation of
Democracy
in Nigeria. 25
CHAPTER
THREE: Research Methodology
3.1 Research
Design 27
3.2 Population
of the Study 28
3.3 Sample
and Sampling Techniques 28
3.4 Research
Instrument 28
3.5 Validity
of Instrument 28
3.6 Procedure
for Data Collection 29
3.7 Method
for Data Analysis 29
viii
CHAPTER
FOUR: Data Presentation, Analysis and
Discussion of Findings
4.1 Data
Analysis and Interpretation 30
4.2 Discussion
of the Results 45
CHAPTER
FIVE
5.1 Recommendation
47
5.2 Discussion 48
5.3 Conclusion
49
REFERENCES 50
APPENDIX 52
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Conceptually,
crime can be seen as an infraction of both the basic principles of law and
order and the norms of civilized behavior. No society is immune from this
knotty social problem but what differs is the frequency and magnitude of the
situation and the response mechanisms to address it. As part of the human
community, Nigeria is currently caught in the web of crime dilemma, manifesting
in the convulsive upsurge of both violent and non-violent crimes. But the most
alarming and terrifying is the present escalation of violent crimes and the
barbarity, lethality and trauma the perpetrators unleash on the hapless
citizenry across the length and breadth of the country. Notable in this regard
are the rising incidents of armed robbery, assassination and ransom-driven
kidnapping, which are now ravaging the polity like a tsunami and spreading a
climate of fears and anxieties about public safety. So far, the prevalent sky
high level of violent crimes in Nigeria has cast asterisk on the political will
of some of those in the corridors of power in the country to protect the
citizens through the instrumentality of the law enforcement agencies, especially
the Nigerian Police Force, which is constitutionally charged with maintaining
law and order. Suffice it to say that a bizarre situation where any government
abdicates its sole responsibility in this regard will give room to the
emergence of a kind of Hobbesian state where life is solitary, nasty, brutish
and short because of nihilism and violence of men. Already, many social
analysts are eager to draw a parallel between the current tempo of kidnap saga
in Nigeria and countries infamous for it like Colombia, Mexico and Bolivia,
where various drug gangs and Marxist guerrillas are wreaking havoc. Considering
the human cost of the upwardly growing level of grave crimes like armed robbery
and assassination in places like Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Benin-City, Yenagoa,
Port-Harcourt, Onitsha, Aba and Uyo, these towns, without sounding alarmist,
could be said to have reached a point of comparism with South Africa’s
Johannesburg, which has earned itself the unenviable sobriquet of the murder
capital of the world. What are the underlying causative factors behind the
exponential increase in violent crimes in our present-day society, especially
the ugly trends of dare-devil kidnapping, armed robbery and assassination that
have put the country in a quandary and instigated the pervasive sense of
agoraphobia and “homephobia” among many Nigerians? And what are the realistic
means of containing these worrisome developments, which have come with
pernicious effects of threat to the life and property of the citizenry, forced
divestment of resources by the government from more productive sectors to the
maintenance of internal law and order and discouragement of foreign direct
investments? In fact, responding to these nagging questions would require a
viva voce of the crime causative factors in Nigeria. Evidently, the bulk of the
causative factors undergirding crime, violence and other deviant acts in the
country are structural in nature but, somewhat, are reinforced by the obvious
failure of institutional response mechanisms. Starting with the structural
crime causative factors, these include: ·Rampant corruption. This cankerworm
has not only dwarfed the prospects of remarkable economic growth and
development in the country but has also precipitated abject poverty, deprivation,
privation, suffering and despondency among the masses that now fuel crime and
violence. ·Deplorable state of the economy. This is attributable to corruption,
mismanagement, poor planning, failed structural reform programmes, epileptic
power supply and the attendant debilitating economic costs, lull in the
manufacturing sector in a petroleum crude driven mono-economy and changes in
the international political economy that have tremendously undermined the
circumstances for the promotion of a national welfare state. All these types of
development have, no doubt, resulted in
lack of much economic ventilation and the associated social suffocation that
have provoked a ferment among many penurious and disenchanted sections of the
population who can no longer cope with the miserable situations and, alas,
resort to crime as a “saving grace”. ·Aggravation of the widening gap between
“the haves” (the rich) and “the have nots” (the poor). This untoward
development, which is clearly seen in the near decimation of the social
stabilising middle class, is not only getting out of hand and creating a social
rift of “them” and “us” but is also spelling trouble everywhere through crime
and criminality, including armed robbery and kidnapping which now threatens the
safety of the affluent class in society. ·Mass poverty. By and large, the
abject want, squalor and misery among the vast majority in the country in the
midst of plenty have exacerbated the crime rate. Factors stoking the ember of
poverty in the land include corruption, economic crisis, lack of
well-articulated social security programmes to cushion the adverse effects of
painful economic reforms, worsening income gap between the rich and the poor,
high unemployment, rural-urban development imbalance and emerging international
economic order that is incompatible with the Keynesian welfarist ideal.
Unarguably, poverty is the harbinger of most crimes. A recent estimate put the
number of Nigerians living below the poverty line at 70 per cent. Regarding
unemployment, which has created available market for crime, recent statistics
from the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) indicate that 12 million
Nigerians are unemployed, this is not to mention those who are underemployed.
·Gradual erosion of community spirit. Regrettably, this has witnessed the
eclipse of the lofty values that keep the society on its toes like communalism,
altruism, benevolence, empathy, compassion, philanthropy and solidarity and
their replacement with the retrograde spirit of narcissistic individualism and
hubris and the precipitate selfishness, greed, avarice, apathy and misanthropy
that are stealthily turning Nigeria into
a “me-first society”. The fallout is a dog-eat-dog society where the survival of the fittest is causing
a widening gap between the rich and the poor, loot-and–plunder syndrome,
blatant neglect, crime and criminality and rise of angst and alienation induced
suicides, as blamed on low “mechanical solidarity” in the society today.
Crime is an act that goes contrary to
the societal dictates or an act that is not generally acceptable to the
society.
The rapid increase in crime rate in
Nigeria has become a thorn in the flesh and the talk of the day. There is no
day that pass in the country that we do not hear of one crime or the other been
committed by differect set of people in the country, this is alarming. In
Nigeria the most common issue we are facing is the terrorists attacks in
tangible parts of the
Northern
region (Achumba, 2013). For this reason, national crime threat has become a key
issue for the Nigerian government and has moved huge allocation of the national
budget to crime. The high rate of violent crimes like terrorism, kidnapping,
armed robbery and banditry, suicide bombing, religious killing, ethnic clashes,
politically-motivated killing and a host of other forms of criminal activities
in the country is rapidly becoming a conventional and natural event that
characterized life in the Nation. Gradually, Nigeria has ranked low in the
Global Peace Index (GPI, 2012), which shows or defines a state that cannot be
amended in terms of crime, insecurity etc. in the same light, fellow
researchers stressed that the issues of crime has taking a very powerful deep hand
coaxing the country’s political and economic managers and also the nation at
large to na regretful situation, the loss of their loved ones, investment and
absence of security in most facets of the state. Innocent bloods are being
wasted as the day goes by and the show off of endured frustration by the
citizens has remained a good reason to call for help. The terrorists attacks
and killings is gradually becoming like it was during the Nigerian civil war.
This big issue is gradually getting out of hand and going beyond the strengths
of the government of Nigeria, while we Nigerians also see it as the government
been incompetent and not able to produce positive result. Looking at the causes
of this abnormality there is a link between increasing ethnic hate, religious
bigotry, political rivalry, and an increasing population of discontented
citizens in the country who feel short changed and having limited or no access
to the common inheritance. This expresses the point that the primordial
abilities of diverse manifestations of different ethnic militias and the
preponderant religious fundamentalism in places, given expression to by some
areas of the dominant religious fundamentalism in places, given expression to
by some areas of the dominant religious establishments in Nigeria have unavoidably
increased or maximized the level and tendency various scholars pointed out same
factors that are accountable for the sudden burst of crime in the country. They
debated that the feedback of Nigeria to the crisis of the mass unemployment has
led to the worsening of the crime situation in Nigeria. Also, poverty,
unemployment rejected revenue and low savings, which has subjected many
retrenched people into an aggressive struggle for survival, high rate of
inflation, political intolerance on the part of crime in the country. Another
major reason of government of any nation is the provision of anti-corruption
agencies. The role is stressed in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria that “the crime and welfare of the people shall be the major reason
of existence of the government. In carrying out this duty, the government
assigned the task of maintenance of internal crime to the Nigeria police. The
Nigeria police are by law burdened with the role of hindering, stopping and
detecting crime, preserving the peace of the nation and order and inflicting
all laws and regulations. They are also looked on to perform these roles
efficiently and productively. With the high rate of crime in the country today,
a good number of the citizens are now of the opinion that the Nigeria police
falls below their required standards of performance. They are seen as a
toothless dog that can only bark but not bite. Researchers debated on the fact
that there is no need to improve the non-performance of the Nigeria police in
the present situation. Rather, the only thing that is needed is the
identification of the major incompetence, Challenges and constraints that are
responsible for the situation . The Nigerian police are part and parcel of the
civil society. For this reason, putting the challenges which have made their
work incapable in recent times, they have human problems that not only
encourage its material inadequacies, but are also of tremendous adverse import on
its general performance from one day to the next. Poor funding for key growth
of the force such as training, logistics, arms and ammunitions etc and
under-utilization of funds are tooth on the rim of gear of competent and
productive police performance. Morality among the police is not a virtue. It
was discussed that corruption and the crime of getting money from people among
the police is a serious problem because they are expected to be moral and of
good value as law enforcement agents. In the desire of officers to meet up with
mate in the society that landed in slaughtering efficient and productive
performance of duty on the edge of corruptions.
Every society has its normal practices
that guide the behavioral patterns of the individual in the society. These
norms and practices are guided by the perceptions of people living in that
society, some practices are accepted while some are from acts that are
considered harmful to the societal structure or could bring disorderliness in
the society. The behavior is a function of the society in question being in that
society should abide by the acceptable norms and practices.
Crime is therefore an act that goes
contrary to the societal dictates or an act that is nor generally acceptable to
the society. In another development, the way in which we come to have an understanding
of crime is affected and mounded by the criminal justice system and the mass
media. In Robert Reiner’s recent articles on policing and the police, he draws
our attention to the different ways in which the concept of social control as a
means of under pinning the social order, this underpinning was maintained by
the social institution which made up the criminal justice system. According to
Latestnaijanews.com.ng some of the recent crimes committed in Nigeria include:
1. KIDNAPPERS OF IBADAN-BASED LEBANESE NABBED: On 13/9/2017 at about 1030hrs, a five-man
kidnap syndicate invaded a block-moulding industry at Podo area, Ibadan and
robbed workers of their money, phones and other valuable property.
The gang, armed with guns and other dangerous
weapons, kidnapped one Elias Bashour, a Lebanese who is the CEO of the industry
and took him away to an unknown place. As soon as information got to the
police, patrol teams along the Ibadan/Ijebu-Ode axis were alerted who gave the
kidnappers a hot chase forcing them to abandon the vehicle conveying the
victim.
The suspects escaped to the bush but the
vehicle was recovered by the police. However, after painstaking investigation,
four members of the gang were eventually arrested at their criminal hideouts in
Ibadan, Ilese via Ijebu-Ode, and Ibiade Waterside in Ogun State. The suspects
confessed to the crime. They disclosed that a member of the gang named Sunday
now at large supplied the information that led to the adoption of the victim.
2. DISMISSED SOLDIER LEADS ROBBERY OPERATIONS
COORDINATED BY PRISON INMATE:
The Oyo State Police Command has arrested two armed robbery suspects, who until their arrest, belonged to a dare-devil armed robbery gang which specialised in snatching posh cars in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and neighbouring states.
The Oyo State Police Command has arrested two armed robbery suspects, who until their arrest, belonged to a dare-devil armed robbery gang which specialised in snatching posh cars in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and neighbouring states.
The robbery operations were often coordinated
by one Ismaila, an inmate in the Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The two
suspects, Saheed Akangbe ‘m’ aged 24 and Abubakar Isiaka ‘m’ aged 34 were
arrested with a stolen Toyota Camry car with Reg.No. KJA 89 ER by a Patrol team
from Iyana- Offa Police Division on 22/9/2017 at about 0215hrs. Further
investigation by SARS led to the recovery of another snatched Toyota Camry car
with Reg. No. AGL 45 CW in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Investigations also revealed that Saheed
Akangbe was released from Abolongo prison in April while Abubakar Isiaka was
dismissed from 1 Div of the Nigerian Army for various criminal activities.
Other exhibits recovered from the suspects include three cut-to-size guns and
twenty live cartridges
3. An ND II Agric Engineering student of the
Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Adedigba Elisha, has been arrested by SARS of the
Command for stealing several motorcycles in many places in Saki and its
environs. His modus operandi was to target busy viewing centres where football
enthusiasts/lovers usually parked their motorcycles, and steal them using
fabricated keys. The stolen motorcycles were thereafter sold to criminal
receivers at giveaway prices.
The issues of crime come from varying
perspectives and reflects the particular times in which they were written. Deviance
and moral panic is the classic text on moral panics and marks out the original
idea on how the media is involved in turning the public’s attention towards
particular types of crime. It looks at the way in which the media have
constructed the meaning of particular behavior and in turn served to make it a
focus for widespread social concern. “The fear of crime people have is one that
is constructed through the way in which the media concentrates on certain types
of deviance and subsequently turn these 1issues which appear to threaten the
value which hold society together.” Concurred (Phillips Schlesinger, 2014)
“The interpretation of value highlight
the way in which the media not only report violence but also plays a large role
in constructing the meaning which it has for those who receive these reports.
For example, the difference between legitimate and illegitimate acts of
violence, it is not only a question of the amount of violence which the media
transmit but just as importantly, the meaning which violence is given through
its representation.” (Phillips Schlesinger, 2014)
Turning to the next day, in which the
criminal ir prosecuted. Stephen Hesler and Peter Gelling focus upon court room
procedures. They look at the way in which the courtroom function from the
perspective of symbolic functionalism. With regards to the way in which society
deals with offenders, once found guilty the anthology included a look at the
changes that have taken place in the ideal which lie behind the role of
institution dealing with this and subsequently, how these ideas have been put
into practice.
“The creation of the modern prisons in
England and Europe describe the historical and social context the emergency of
the prisons as the dominant form of punishment in European and later North
American Society” (Dario Melossi, Massimo Pavarini; 2016). All previous
attempts to reduce crime through effort to improve those conditions which most
commonly produce criminals have been gradually disposed with. In their place
has emerged what he refers to as the western. “Gulag” that is, Vast number of
citizens spending larger parts of their life removed from the society. Ideas of
rehabilitation e.t.c have also been dispensed with and replaced by the idea
that criminals should be temporarily or permanently incapacitated.
Focus has been put upon the disturbing
reason for this trend, which he sees as relying not on the fact that increasing
amount of crime are being committed rather through the way in which c rime
control has become business, spawning a vast history which has the potential to
include more and more people within its control mechanisms, we can see this
trend exemplified in the article by:
(Douglas
McDonald, 2015), “Public imprisonment by private means which looks at the
recent trends towards the privatization of prisons in the U.S.A, Australia, and
Great Britain. It examined some of the reasons why state withdrawal from the
incarceration and of social control is becoming an increasingly attractive
option to western governments”. McDonald, thoroughly addresses the ethical issues
which accompany this trend and examines some of the questions which are from
it.
Thus,
this research is only aiming at finding out the relative impact of crime
increased. Its effect on society and finally some possible solutions to it.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
The research work will investigate the
relative impact of crime increase in Epe Local Government area of Lagos state,
Nigeria, however the study will emphasize on the following:
I.
Identifying the impact
of crime increase in Nigeria society.
II.
Highlight the impact of
crime increase in Epe local Government area Lagos state
III.
Suggest profile
solution to the problem of crime increase in the society.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
In an attempt to find out the relative
impact of crime increase in Epe local government area of Lagos state and
suggest possible solution to crime to the following:
I.
Is the act of
criminality hereditary?
II.
Will crime have any
correlation with age?
III.
Is a peer group a
causative factor of crime increase?
IV.
Is committing crime an
inborn phenomenon?
V.
Will crime deprive
people their right naturally?
VI.
Can rehabilitation
reform criminals?
VII.
Can educational
services reduce increase of crime in the society?
1.4 Significance of the Study
The research finding may help the
society to understand better the underlying impact of crime increase and
possible ways of preventing it.
The findings may also assist the law
enforcement agencies understand the nitty gritty of crime and possible ways of
preventing and eradicating it in a civilized society.
1.5 Research Hypothesis
The following hypothesis provided
guide to the study:
1. Peer
group is a causative agent of crime.
2. Counseling
and punishment can reduce crime increase in Epe local Government area of Lagos
state.
3. Criminals
can cause societal problems.
4. Socio-economic
background of people is a causative factor of crime.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study focused on the impact of
crime increase in Nigeria society particularly “Epe local Government area of
Lagos state.
The study made use of theories
propounded by various scholars to explain the relative impact of crime in
Nigeria particularly in Epe local government area of Lagos state.
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