Enugu, crime capital of Nigeria – Survey

Where would you likely be a victim of crime in Nigeria? See the safest and most dangerous states in Nigeria.

Enugu State, in the south east, is the official crime capital of Nigeria, a crime perception survey released on Monday in Abuja has said.

At least 70 per cent of respondents to the survey in Enugu admitted they were victims of crime in the past year, the 2013 National Crime Victimization and Safety Survey conducted by CLEEN Foundation showed.

The national average was 25 per cent – one in every four Nigerian. The survey showed a progressive decrease in the number of victims of crime in Nigeria.

“There has been a six per cent decrease in actual experience of crime from the 31 per cent recorded in 2012 to the current 25 percent,” the report said.

The report surveyed for crimes like robbery, kidnapping, physical assault, phone and car theft, rape and attempted rape, domestic violence, attempted murder and other crimes.

The Crime Victimization Survey used data collected across Nigeria between June and July 2013.
Closely following Enugu State is its neighbour, Ebonyi, where at least 65 per cent – at least three in every five residents – were victims of crime.

Ekiti state, in southwest Nigeria, shares the same crime records with Ebonyi State. More than three in every five respondents admitted they were victims of crime last year.

Ogun State, a neighbour to Lagos is the safest state in Nigeria with only about one in every 20 citizens admitting they were victims of crimes last year.

Katsina State in Northwest Nigeria is the next safest. Only about one in every 10 residents was a victim of crime last year.

Lagos State recorded 18 percent.

Borno and Yobe, despite being the hotbed for Boko Haram attacks recorded seemingly low crime rates, according to the report. Only about one in every four resident admitted being victims of crime last year. Boko Haram militants have murdered over 1,500 people in the states since launching a vicious attack against government establishments, security agencies, religious places and the residents.

At a geopolitical level, the South East recorded the highest number of crimes with 44 per cent of respondents complaining they were victims. The North West recorded the lowest score of 18 per cent crime rate.

On a gender scale, more men than women fell victims of crimes in Nigeria last year.
“Further (segregation) by gender indicates that more men (27%) had actual experience than women (23%),” the report said.

Irony of feeling
Although Ogun State recorded the lowest actual experience of crime, almost everyone in the state fear they would become victims of crime.

The findings of the 2013 survey indicated that 94 per cent of Ogun residents fear they are likely victims of crime. In actual sense, only one in 20 was a victim of crime.
On a national scale, more than 7 out of 10 Nigerians had the fear of becoming victims of crime last year.

The people who feel safest are those in Benue and Taraba States. Only 38 per cent of residents in those state had fears of becoming victims of crime. One in four residents of Benue state were victims of crime last year, and not more than one in every six in Taraba.

“Analysing by gender, 73 percent of females feared becoming victims of crime compared to 71 percent of males,” the report said.

“Overall, these findings are meant to assist the government, police and the entire criminal justice administration system to better understand emerging trends in crime and safety in Nigeria and consequently, to refine and deploy improved strategies to resolve the country’s current challenges of security and safety,” the authors, CLEEN Foundation, said.

The survey was conducted with support from the Macarthur Foundation.
[Download the full report here]

Source: Premiumtimes