Violent victimisation in Lagos metropolis: An empirical investigation of community and personal predictors
| Author | Franca Attoh,Tunde A Alabi,Johnson Ayodele,Waziri B Adisa,Samuel O Adejoh |
| Published date | 01 January 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/02697580211027987 |
| Date | 01 January 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Violent victimisation
in Lagos metropolis:
An empirical investigation
of community and
personal predictors
Waziri B Adisa
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Tunde A Alabi
University of Lagos, Nigeria and University of Cape Town, South Africa
Johnson Ayodele
Lead City University, Nigeria
Franca Attoh
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Samuel O Adejoh
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Abstract
Violence or its threats have been a part of many African cities since the end of the Cold War, when
many African countries transited from military to civilian rule. While the incidence of organised
crime and violent victimisation of innocent citizens is not new to many West African cities, the
emergence of terrorist organisations, armed bandits, kidnappers and armed gangs in a city like
Lagos has created new security challenges. The challenges include the inability of government to
cope with the rising number of young people in organised cult clashes and the threats to peace and
stability in Lagos metropolis. This study is designed to investigate the influence of socio-
demographic (senatorial district, gender, age, ethnic group, marital status, education, employ-
ment, duration of residency and type of apartment) and community factors (presence of
Corresponding author:
Tunde A Alabi, Department of Sociology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Email: taalabi@unilag.edu.ng
International Review of Victimology
2022, Vol. 28(1) 69–91
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/02697580211027987
journals.sagepub.com/home/irv
nightclubs/hotels, use of private security and frequency of police patrol) on residents’ experience
of crime victimisation, robbery and organised crime. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey
design and a quantitative method of data collection. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit
information from 300 respondents across three senatorial districts of Lagos State. The study found
that factors such as location, type of apartment, nightclubbing, duration of residence, employment
status and use of private security predicted at least one of the three dependent variables. The
implications of the findings are discussed.
Keywords
Victimisation, robbery, organised crime, Lagos metropolis, nightclubbing, location
Introduction
Violent crimes allegedly caused or perpetrated by organised criminal groups have been on the
increase around the world since the end of the Cold War, especially in theWest African sub-region
where the stateis unable to guarantee the securityof lives and property. For decades since the end of
the Cold War, the West African sub-region has remained the hub of organised crime such as illicit
arms trading, drug peddling, trading in human parts, human trafficking and advance fee fraud. The
region is alsohost to deadly terrorist groupssuch as Boko Haram, ISIS, Ansanruand Al Qaeda in the
Islamic Maghreb. At different times, these groups have launched attacks in a number of countries,
including Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Mali. The activities of these groups have now
altered the nature of armed conflict and victimisation in the region since the end of the Cold War
(InternationalCrisis Group, 2016; Mazzitelli,2007; Meredith, 2005; Pantucci and Jesperson, 2015).
Although violent crimes always occurred all over the world prior to the Cold War, certain
factors that emerged after that war have changed and aggravated the rate of crime in less developed
societies. Such factors include the increased capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction, the
internationalisation of crime, the illicit transfer of arms from Europe, Asia and Latin America to
criminals in Africa, and the apparent poor governance system. All of these factors have crippled
the capacity of security forces (Hu
¨bschle, 2011; Mazzitelli, 2007; Onuoha, 2014; United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2005). Beyond the Cold War, however, there is also the
argument that governments in many developing countries have failed to curb corruption in the
public sector, thus leading to the impoverishment of millions a nd the creation of an army of
unemployed youths who end up taking to crime in a bid to survive. It is within this context that
this study addresses the city of Lagos.
Since the end of British rule in Nigeria, the city of Lagos, like other West African cities, has
continued to undergo rapid urbanisation (movement of people from the rural areas to commercial
capitals in the bid to access urban infrastructure). At the same time, the city of Lagos has been
confronted with multiple crises of development arising from lack of proper planning. For instance,
Aluko (2010) noted that the development of Lagos has followed the nature of urbanisation in the
West African sub-region. Whereas industrialisation in Western countries was largely responsible
for the growth of cities in those places, the colonial and postcolonial conditions in the West African
sub-region are responsible for the growth of West African cities. These conditions include colonial
foreign policy, colonial laws and the political economy of the postcolonial state and they have
shaped the way people live in Lagos, as well as the type of criminal victimisation they face in their
everyday world.
70 International Review of Victimology 28(1)
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