Crime rate is the number of misdemeanours that are committed during a period of time in a particular place. There has been an increased crime rate in Nigeria and the major crimes committed in the country include kidnapping, murder, burglary, fraud, terrorism, robbery, cyber-related, rape, bribery and corruption, money laundering, etc.
Terrorism is on the increase in the country. Nigeria is the third country affected by terrorists. Genocide is another severe threat that Nigerians faced in recent times. Nigeria is the second country in Africa with the highest risk of mass killing and the sixth in the world. Also, the quest for wealth makes some engage in drug trafficking.
The current state of kidnapping in the country does not exclude anyone from the low, middle, or high-income class from being a victim. Ransoms are demanded from victims’ relatives, which has become rampant across the 36 states of the country. Several people are kidnapped with the demand of huge ransoms from their captors, while those unable to pay are killed.
Kidnapping is also affecting the education system in the country as terrorists have attacked several schools and abducted students. Examples are the Chibok schoolgirls in Borno, Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna, Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina, Niger State, to mention a few.
The aim of the abductors includes getting more recruits who will carry out bombing missions for them, marrying the girls, collecting ransom from relatives or the government, or probably doing a swap to release their members from custody. This has made parents skeptical about their children having a formal education, especially in the northern region.
Statistics show that Nigeria ranked the 17th country globally with a 66.7 percent crime index. However, this ranking may be lower than the actual crime rate as the crime index is measured by the number of cases reported, of which not all cases are reported in the country. This is probably because published crime statistics are grossly understated.
Also, according to Global Peace Index, Nigeria is among the countries in the world with the least peace. The non-peaceful index value of Nigeria is 2.71, which signifies that the more the value, the less the peace in the country.
Read also: Police conniving with bandits, fuels insecurity- Ahmed Wase
Furthermore, the rising crime rate is also a wrong signal to investors. No investor will want to invest in a country that is not peaceful.
So what is responsible?
The rising macroeconomic problems of unemployment, inflation, poverty can be attributed to some of the leading causes of the increasing crime rate in the country.
Furthermore, the population explosion experienced in the country and increase in the cost of living widens the income gap between the rich and the poor pushes vulnerable people into crime. The lack of a good source of livelihood among Nigerians causes the majority to delve into criminal acts. This buttresses the adage, ‘an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.
Action of government
A considerable percentage of the budget has been earmarked for the defence sector to curb the crime rate/insecurity within the country. The allocation is far more than that of the health and education sector. In the last six years, the budgetary allocation to the defence sector has been steadily rising, although the bulk of it goes to recurrent expenditure.
The ammunition being used by the terrorists is even more sophisticated than those of the Nigerian military. Despite the rising budgetary allocation to the defence sector, the level of crime and terrorism is increasing in the northern region and extending to the southwest. Although this does not directly lead to insecurity, the lack of necessary equipment aggravates insecurity because efforts to curb insecurity declined with inadequate tools.
President Mohammad Buhari’s primary aim is to fight corruption at all levels; however, corruption is still high. Fighting corruption is not only at the top. It starts from the grassroots. Corruption is not only a government thing; it starts from home; children to mother, mother to father, and vice versa.
Fighting corruption is just a sheer waste of time, energy, and efforts when the welfare of the people is reduced and there is rising unemployment and poverty ravaging the economy.
The war against violence and crime is not only by enacting law but by providing the solution to economic problems. Crime wave thus was exacerbated by deteriorating economic conditions, ineffective, inefficient, and corrupt individuals who colluded and conspired with criminals to carry out criminal acts.
The current economic conditions, which reduce per capita income coupled with the COVID-19 shock on the economy and the aura of the festive mood, there is a high probability of crime increase in the country as people want to make more money either in an ideal or not ideal way. The reason for committing the crime can also be related to affluence and prestige because people want recognition in society and need money.
The crime rate in Nigeria is becoming alarming due to various economic-related factors. Apart from strict enforcement of law and orders coupled with severe sentences for any criminal act, the government should address the macroeconomic problems of unemployment, inflation, and poverty. Thus, the crime rate will reduce when there is an increase in the welfare of people.
Busayo Aderounmu is an economics lecturer at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.
