Crime in Nigeria

Last updated

A Nigerian police officer at the Eyo festival in Lagos. Nigerian female police.jpg
A Nigerian police officer at the Eyo festival in Lagos.

Crime in Nigeria is investigated by the Nigerian Police. Nigeria is considered to be a country with a high level of crime, ranking 17th among the least peaceful countries in the world. [1] During the first half of 2022, almost 6,000 people were killed by jihadists, kidnappers, bandits or the Nigerian army. [2]

Contents

Crime by type

Child sexual abuse

According to UNICEF in 2014, 25% of women were sexually abused before age 18 and 11% of men were sexually abused before age 18. [3]

Corruption

In 2011, it was estimated that Nigeria had lost over $400 billion to political corruption since independence. [4]

Nigeria’s president-elect bought a $11 million London mansion that his predecessor’s government was seeking to confiscate as part of a probe into one of the biggest corruption scandals in the West African nation’s history. [5]

Domestic violence

A 2012 study found that 31% of Nigerian women had been victims of domestic violence. [6] Nigerian perceptions of domestic violence vary based on region, religion, and class. For example, the Tiv people view wife-beating as a "sign of love" that should be encouraged as evidenced with the statement "If you are not yet beaten by your husband then you do not know the joy of marriage and that means you are not yet married". [7]

All the major ethnic groups, especially Yoruba and Igbo, have strong patriarchial societal structures that lead to the justification of domestic violence. [8]

Human trafficking

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking, including forced labour and forced prostitution. Trafficked Nigerian women and children are recruited from rural areas within Nigeria - women and girls for involuntary domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, and boys for forced labour in street vending, domestic servitude, mining, and begging. [9]

Nigerian women and children are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Nigerian women and girls are taken to Europe, especially to Italy and Russia, and to the Middle East and North Africa, for forced prostitution. [9]

Kidnapping

Money laundering

Murder

Nigeria had a murder rate of 9.85 per 100,000 population in 2015. [10] In 2016, the homicide rate per 100.000 inhabitants was 34.5. [11]

Organised crime

Criminal organisations in Nigeria typically do not follow the mafia-type model used elsewhere. They appear to be less formal and more organised along familial and ethnic lines, thus making them less susceptible to infiltration by law enforcement. Police investigations are further hampered by the fact there are at least 250 distinct ethnic languages in Nigeria. [12]

Area boys are loosely organised gangs of street children and teenagers, composed mostly of males, who roam the streets of Lagos, Lagos State in Nigeria. [13] They extort money from passers-by, public transporters and traders, sell illegal drugs, act as informal security guards, and perform other "odd jobs" in return for compensation. [14] [15]

Piracy

Prison escapes

Terrorism

Jihadist group Boko Haram began an insurgency in July 2009, which peaked in the mid-2010s. Centred on Maiduguri, Borno State, they have killed carried out many attacks in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. They have carried out many kidnappings, bombings and massacres - killing tens of thousands of people. [16]

In September 2019, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant stated that it killed 14 Nigerian soldiers in Borno. [17] Later in September 2019, militants in northeastern Nigeria killed at least nine people in an attack. A day later, ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack. [18]

In January 2021, a separatist insurgency in the country's southeast began.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Nigeria</span> History of Nigeria

The history of Nigeria can be traced to the earliest inhabitants whose remains date from at least 13,000 BC through early civilizations such as the Nok culture which began around 1500 BC. Numerous ancient African civilizations settled in the region that is known today as Nigeria, such as the Kingdom of Nri, the Benin Empire, and the Oyo Empire. Islam reached Nigeria through the Bornu Empire between and Hausa States around during the 11th century, while Christianity came to Nigeria in the 15th century through Augustinian and Capuchin monks from Portugal to the Kingdom of Warri.The Songhai Empire also occupied part of the region. From the 15th century, European slave traders arrived in the region to purchase enslaved Africans as part of the Atlantic slave trade, which started in the region of modern-day Nigeria; the first Nigerian port used by European slave traders was Badagry, a coastal harbour. Local merchants provided them with slaves, escalating conflicts among the ethnic groups in the region and disrupting older trade patterns through the Trans-Saharan route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maiduguri</span> Capital city of Borno State, Nigeria

Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria, on the continent of Africa. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the Firki swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a military outpost by the British Empire during the colonial period. As of 2022, Maiduguri is estimated to have a population of approximately two million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Mali</span>

According to the U.S. Department of State's annual report on human rights in Mali for 2003, Mali's government generally respects the human rights of its citizens and observes relevant constitutional provisions and prohibitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Nigeria</span> Constitutional human rights

Human rights in Nigeria are protected under the current constitution of 1999. While Nigeria has made major improvements in human rights under this constitution, the American Human Rights Report of 2012 notes several areas where more improvement is needed, which includes: abuses by Boko Haram, killings by government forces, lack of social equality and issues with freedom of speech. The Human Rights Watch's 2015 World Report states that intensified violence by Boko Haram, restrictions of LGBTIQ rights and government corruption continue to undermine the status of human rights in Nigeria.

Organised crime in Nigeria includes activities by fraudsters, bandits, drug traffickers and racketeers, which have spread across Western Africa. Nigerian criminal gangs rose to prominence in the 1980s, owing much to the globalisation of the world's economies and the high level of lawlessness and corruption in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Igbo sentiment</span> Ideology

Anti-Igbo sentiment encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward the Igbo people. The Igbo people make up all of south-eastern Nigeria and a part of south-south Nigeria geopolitical zones. Igbophobia is observable in critical and hostile behaviour such as political and religious discrimination and violence towards Igbos.

Senegal is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than trans-border trafficking and the majority of victims are children. Within Senegal some boys called "talibes" are victims of trafficking, by promising to educate them, but subjecting them instead to forced begging and physical abuse. A 2007 study done by UNICEF, the ILO, and the World Bank found that 6,480 talibe were forced to beg in Dakar alone. Women and girls are trafficked for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, including for sex tourism, within Senegal. Transnationally, boys are trafficked to Senegal from The Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea for forced begging by religious teachers. Senegalese women and girls are trafficked to neighboring countries, the Middle East, and Europe for domestic servitude and possibly for sexual exploitation. Women and girls from other West African countries, particularly Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria may be trafficked to Senegal for sexual exploitation, including for sex tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Mali</span> Overview of the status of women in Mali

The status and social roles of women in Mali have been formed by the complex interplay of a variety of traditions in ethnic communities, the rise and fall of the great Sahelien states, French colonial rule, independence, urbanisation, and postcolonial conflict and progress. Forming just less than half Mali's population, Malian women have sometimes been the center of matrilineal societies, but have always been crucial to the economic and social structure of this largely rural, agricultural society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram</span> Central-West African jihadist terrorist organization

Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist militant organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. Boko Haram was the world's deadliest terror group during part of the mid-2010s according to the Global Terrorism Index. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.

Eswatini is a source, destination, and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically commercial sexual exploitation, involuntary domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture. Swazi girls, particularly orphans, are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude in the cities of Mbabane and Manzini, as well as in South Africa and Mozambique.

Lesotho is a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution, and for men in forced labor. Women and children are subjected within Lesotho to involuntary domestic servitude and children, to a lesser extent, to commercial sexual exploitation. Basotho victims of transnational trafficking are most often taken to South Africa. Long-distance truck drivers offer to transport women and girls looking for legitimate employment in South Africa. En route, some of these women and girls are raped by the truck drivers, then later prostituted by the driver or an associate. Many men who migrate voluntarily to South Africa to work illegally in agriculture and mining become victims of labor trafficking. Victims work for weeks or months for no pay; just before their promised "pay day" the employers turn them over to authorities to be deported for immigration violations. Women and children are exploited in South Africa in involuntary domestic servitude and commercial sex, and some girls may still be brought to South Africa for forced marriages in remote villages. Some Basotho women who voluntarily migrate to South Africa seeking work in domestic service become victims of traffickers, who detain them in prison-like conditions and force them to engage in prostitution. Most internal and transnational traffickers operate through informal, loose associations and acquire victims from their families and neighbors. Chinese and reportedly Nigerian organized crime units, however, acquire some Basotho victims while transporting foreign victims through Lesotho to Johannesburg, where they "distribute" victims locally or move them overseas. Bathoso children who have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS are more vulnerable to traffickers' manipulations; older children trying to feed their siblings are most likely to be lured by a trafficker's fraudulent job offer.

Morocco is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Children are trafficked within the country from rural areas to urban centers to work as maids or laborers, or for commercial sexual exploitation. Moroccan men, women, and children are exploited for forced labor and prostitution in European and Middle Eastern countries. Young Moroccan girls from rural areas are recruited to work as child maids in cities, but often experience non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse, and sometimes face restrictions on movement. These practices indicate that these girls are subjected to involuntary servitude. Moroccan boys experience forced labor as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops. A few Moroccan men and boys are lured to Europe by fraudulent job offers, and are subsequently forced to sell drugs. In addition, men and women from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Philippines enter Morocco voluntarily but illegally with the assistance of smugglers; once in Morocco, some of the women are coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, forced into domestic service. Nigerian gangs, who engage in a variety of criminal activities like human smuggling and drug trafficking, compete to control the trafficking of sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. The majority of this trafficking is internal, and much of it is perpetrated by armed groups and government forces outside government control within the DRC's unstable eastern provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child labour in Nigeria</span>

Child labour in Nigeria is the employment of children under the age of 18 in a manner that restricts or prevents them from basic education and development. Child labour is pervasive in every state of the country. In 2006, the number of child workers was estimated at about 15 million. Poverty is a major factor that drives child labour in Nigeria. In poor families, child labour is a major source of income for the family.

Domestic violence is prominent in Nigeria as in other parts of Africa. There is a deep cultural belief in Nigeria that it is socially acceptable to hit a woman as a disciplinary measure. Cases of Domestic violence are on the high and show no signs of reduction in Nigeria, regardless of age, tribe, religion, or even social status. The CLEEN Foundation reports 1 in every 3 respondents admitting to being a victim of domestic violence. The survey also found a nationwide increase in domestic violence in the past 3 years from 21% in 2011 to 30% in 2013. A CLEEN Foundation's 2012 National Crime and Safety Survey demonstrated that 31% of the national sample confessed to being victims of domestic violence.

Child sexual abuse in Nigeria is an offence under several sections of chapter 21 of the country's criminal code. The age of consent is 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Ghana</span>

Crime in Ghana is investigated by the Ghana Police Service.

The following is a list of events in 2020 in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Ivory Coast</span> Overview of crimes in Cote dIvoire

Crime in Cote d'Ivoire is prevalent and versatile across the West African country. The most common forms of crime include child labour, arms trafficking, terrorism and human rights abuse. Other less common, but still evident types of crime include cannabis and synthetic drug trade, sex trafficking, fauna and flora crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Nigeria</span> Traditional slave trade in southeastern Nigeria

Slavery has existed in various forms throughout the history of Nigeria, notably during the Atlantic slave trade and Trans-Saharan trade. Slavery is now illegal internationally and in Nigeria. However, legality is often overlooked with different pre-existing cultural traditions, which view certain actions differently. In Nigeria, certain traditions and religious practices have led to "the inevitable overlap between cultural, traditional, and religious practices as well as national legislation in many African states" which has had the power to exert extra-legal control over many lives resulting in modern-day slavery. The most common forms of modern slavery in Nigeria are human trafficking and child labor. Because modern slavery is difficult to recognize, it has been difficult to combat this practice despite international and national efforts.

References

  1. "Topic: Crime in Nigeria". Statista. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. "How oil-rich Nigeria failed to profit from an oil boom". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  3. UNICEF report on child sexual abuse in Nigeria: Release of the findings of the Nigeria Violence Against Children Survey
  4. Okoye, Rita (31 August 2012). "Nigeria has lost $400bn oil revenue to corruption since Independence – Ezekwesili". Daily Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  5. "Nigeria Targeted a UK Mansion; Its Next Leader's Son Now Owns It". Bloomberg. 2 May 2023.
  6. "Nigeria." Social Institutions & Gender Index. Social Institutions & Gender Index, n.d. Web. 1 May 2016.
  7. Oyediran, KA and Isiugo-Abaniher, U. "Perceptions of Nigerian women on domestic violence". African Journal of Reproductive Health, 2005
  8. Kritz MM and P Makinwa-Adebusoye. Ethnicity, work and family as determinants of women's decision-making autonomy in Nigeria. Population and Development Program. 2006
  9. 1 2 "Nigeria". Trafficking in Persons Report 2010. U.S. Department of State (14 June 2010). PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  10. "Intentional homicide victims | Statistics and Data". United Nations. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  11. "Country Profile | dataUNODC". United Nations. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  12. La Sorte, Mike. "Defining Organized Crime". AmericanMafia.com, May 2006.
  13. Simon Heap, "Their Days are Spent in Gambling and Loafing, Pimping for Prostitutes, and Picking Pockets": Male Juvenile Delinquents on Lagos Island, Nigeria, 1920s-60s’, Journal of Family History, 35(1), 2010, 48-70;
  14. "Area Boys -- a growing menace on the streets of Lagos". NEWSfromAFRICA. Koinonia International. IRIN. 14 July 2005. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
  15. Momoh, Abubakar (2000). "Yoruba Culture and Area Boys in Lagos". In Jega, Attahiru (ed.). Identity Transformation and Identity Politics under Structural Adjustment in Nigeria. Nordic Africa Institute. p. 184. ISBN   91-7106-456-7.
  16. Emerson, Stephen; Solomon, Hussein (24 January 2018), "Terrorism and extremism", African security in the twenty-first century, Manchester University Press, doi:10.7765/9781526122742.00010, ISBN   978-1-5261-2274-2
  17. "Islamic State says it killed 14 Nigerian soldiers in northeast Borno state: Amaq". Reuters. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  18. "Islamic State claims attack on soldiers in northeast Nigeria". Reuters. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

See also