Public Presentation of Findings of the National Crime Victimization and Safety Survey, 2013 by CLEEN Foundation

Introduction

CLEEN Foundation, with the support from the Macarthur Foundation, has been conducting Crime Victimization Surveys in Nigeria since 2005.  Victimization surveys have emerged as extremely efficient method of gaining insight into the trends of crime and safety in a society.  In Nigeria, the primary aim of the Crime Victimization Survey is first and foremost to understand the trends and changes in crime in Nigeria.  It also enables us to guage the perceptions of Nigerians on three basic questions:

a)      How safe do they feel in their community?

b)     What is their actual experience of crime?; and

c)      What is their perception of crime prevention efforts in their community?

Understanding that safety in a community exceeds the mere absence of crime, our survey methodology was designed to cover the individual, the public and the social architecture for safety and crime prevention.  For this reason, we cover topics such as road traffic safety, perceptions on corruption, and criminal justice administration.

This presentation highlights key findings of the 2013 Crime Victimization Survey using data collected from fieldwork conducted in June and July 2013.  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.  It will also be found that in many instances, we provide a trend analysis of the findings over the last 3 years.  We also break down the findings across states and geopolitical zones, and also highlight the national averages.

Section One: Population, Sampling and Method

This study employed survey research methodology and is designed to ensure that its findings adequately reflect the perceptions of Nigerians.  The population sample consisted of 11,518 Nigerians equally distributed among male and female adults aged 18 years and above from all the 36 States in the country and the Federal Capital Territory.  The data collection method employed was the household survey involving face-to-face personal interviews.  Respondents were selected through a stratified multi-stage random sampling procedure in order to achieve a representative sample.  Respondents must have lived in the selected household for a period of not less than six months.

The fieldwork for the survey was conducted by Practical Sampling International (PSI), a reputed research company with a wide experience in quantitative research in the country.  CLEEN Foundation employed monitors to observe the conduct of the field work as an initial quality control measure.  The data processing was done in collaboration with DC Pro-Data Consult Limited with supervision by the CLEEN Foundation research team.  Data entry, cleaning and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Section Two: Survey Findings

The general findings of the 2013 Crime Victimization and Safety Survey in the areas of fear of crime, safety, victimization pattern and trend, corruption trend, road safety, and performance of the entire criminal justice system are presented below.  A comparative analysis of results of previous surveys is also made to determine the dynamics in crime over time.

1. Fear of Crime

Fear of crime refers to the fear of becoming a victim of crime.  The findings of the 2013 survey indicated that more than 7 out of 10 Nigerians 72% had the fear of becoming victims of crime.  Across States, Ogun and Ondo State recorded the highest with 94%, while Benue and Taraba State recorded the lowest with 38%.  The national average stood at 72%.  Analysing by gender, 73% of females feared becoming victims of crime compared to 71% of males.

Graph 1: Fear of Crime

2. Actual Experience of Crime

A distinction must be made between the perception, and the actual experience, of  crime.  In the dataset, as much as a quarter of respondents, that is 25%, said that they had been victims of crime during the past year.  The findings showed a progressive decrease in the number of victims of crime in Nigeria.  There has been a 6% decrease in actual experience of crime from the 31% recorded in 2012 to the current 25%.  The survey also indicated that the number of victims of crime was highest in Enugu State with 70%, followed by Ekiti and Ebonyi State (both 65%).  The national average was 25%.  Katsina State had 9%, while Ogun had the lowest score of 5%.  Analysing experience of crime by regions in Nigeria, the South East recorded highest with 44% while the North West recorded lowest score of 18%.  Lagos State also recorded 18%.  Further desegregation by gender indicates that more men (27%) had actual experience than women (23%).

Graph 2: Actual Experience of Crime

3. Trends Analysis of Criminal Victimization in Nigeria

i.          Robbery

Experience of robbery has increased from 17% in 2012 to 18% in 2013.  When disaggregated by States, the results of the 2013 survey showed that Kaduna State recorded the highest of 43%, followed by Akwa-Ibom State (42%) and Cross River State (39%), while Jigawa (5%) and Kano (3%) were among the states with the lowest incidence of robbery.  The survey also revealed that security in the home remains a key challenge, as 37% of robberies occurred in the homes of respondents; another 26% occurred near the home, while 9% took place in the workplace or school.  

Graph 3: Robbery by State

ii.         Rape and Attempted Rape

5% of respondents stated that they had been raped or been victims of attempted rape.  The analysis according to geopolitical zones shows that the South South has the highest incidence with 10%, followed by the North East (6%).  The South West and North West recorded 4% each.  The North Central recorded 3% and South East had the lowest score of 1%.  The incidence of rape has been on the increase from 3% in 2011 to 5% in 2013.  When victims were asked where the rape occurred, 36% said it happened near their own homes; 19% said it occurred at their homes and 13% said it occurred in the school or work place.  Again the challenge of security and safety in the homes is explicitly exhibited in rape case.  Respondents were further asked how widespread the incidence of rape was: 10% believed it was very widespread, 33% said it happened occasionally, 48% believed it was non-existent while 9% said they do not know.

Graph 4: Rape / Attempted Rape

iii.        Kidnapping and Attempted Kidnapping

A total of 3% of the respondents interviewed nationwide said that they had been victims of kidnapping or attempted kidnapping.  The South West had the highest incidence of kidnapping with 5%, followed by the South East and South South with 4% each.  The North West and North East each had an incidence of 3%, with the lowest being North Central at 2%.

Graph 5: Kidnapping / Attempted Kidnapping

iv.        Physical Assault

33% of respondents said they had been victim of physical assault in the 2013 survey. Some states, Enugu (84%), Ebonyi (77%), Rivers (58%), and Anambra (50%) recorded a high incidence of physical assault compared to other states such as Ogun (38%), Taraba (36%), Lagos (35%) and Kogi (34%).  The FCT recorded an increase from 15% in 2012 to 24% in 2013.  Some states such as Kano recorded a decrease from 14% in 2012 to 3% in 2013.  In Niger State, physical assault fell from 68% in 2012 to 6% in 2013; and in Jigawa State, it fell from 23% in 2012 to 8% in 2013.

Graph 6: Physical Assault by State

v.         Domestic Violence

Nearly one in every three respondents (30%) admitted having been a victim of domestic violence.  Over the last 3 years, there has been an increase in domestic violence.  There was a progressive increment from 21% in 2011 to 31% in 2012 with a 1% decrease in the 2013 survey to 30%.  The findings of the 2013 survey revealed that domestic violence ranks amongst the top four most common victimizations in Nigeria.  Prevalence is highest in the South East with 43% followed by the South West and the North East with 35% each.  The South-South recorded a 26% incidence while the North Central and North West recorded the lowest with 19% each.

vi.        Attempted Murder

5% of respondents stated that they were victims of attempted murder.  This indicated an increase from the 3% recorded in 2012.  The highest was in the North East (8%), followed by the South South and North West with 7% each, the South West (6%), North Central (3%) and South East (2%) had the lowest incidence in this analysis.

Graph 7 (i): Attempted Murder

Further analysis of the 5% who responded that they were victims of attempted murder in 2013, showed that 35% of them said that the incidents occurred at their own homes.

Graph 7 (ii) Location of Attempted Murder

vii.       Theft of Mobile Phone

Over all, nearly one in every two respondents, that is 45%, reported being a victim of theft of mobile phone.  Theft of mobile phones remains the number one crime committed in Nigeria.  At the State level, Taraba ranks highest at 64%, followed by Kwara, Abia, Lagos, at 59%, 57%, 55% respectively, while Kaduna, Ekiti, Nasarawa and Plateau all had scores of 54% each.  Lowest ranking were Ogun and Yobe with 23% and 22% respectively.

Graph 8:  Theft of Mobile Phones

viii.      Car Theft

The Survey revealed that 4% of respondents have had their cars stolen in the past one year.  The highest incidence of car theft occurred in the North West (6%), followed by the South South (5%).  The North East and South West recorded 4% and 3% respectively, while the South East and North Central recorded 2% and 1% respectively.  35% of cars were stolen in victims’ homes, 34% near victims’ homes, 19% elsewhere and 12% at their work place or school.

Graph 9(i) Car Theft

Graph 9(ii) Location where Car Theft Occurs

xi.        Armed Violence other than Robbery

Armed violence entails the use of weapons and physical force to inflict, or attempt to inflict injuries on another.  The results of the survey indicated that 4% of respondents were victims of armed violence.  The highest incidence was in the North East with 11%, followed by the South South with 9%.  For the other regions, the North Central and North West recorded 3% while the South West and South East recorded 1%.

Graph 10(i) Armed Violence by Region

The survey further indicated that 42% of armed violence occurred near the home, 14% at home and 7% at work or school. 5% males have been victims of armed violence and 4% females have been victims of this type of crime in Nigeria.

Graph 10(ii) Armed Violence by location

4. Service Delivery of Agencies

i.          Reporting of Crime to the Police                    

The findings of the survey revealed that most crimes – 82% – are unreported.  Only 2 in 10 (18%) of respondents who suffered crimes reported to the police.  Further analysis by States shows that the lowest percentage of reports were made in Yobe (6%), Osun and Zamfara (7% each), Ebonyi (8%), Kaduna (8%), and Anambra (10%).  The highest percentage of reports were made in Edo (45%), Niger (41%), Kogi (34%), Ogun and Kebbi (29%) respectively.

Graph 11: Reporting to Police by State

ii.         Satisfaction with Police Handling of Cases

Of those who made reports to the police, when asked about their satisfaction with the way the police had handled their cases, less than half of them (46%) were satisfied while 39% were not satisfied, with 15% undecided.  The 46% threshold of victims’ satisfaction however is a decrease from the 48% recorded in 2012.  Key reasons given for dissatisfaction by complainants include police ineffectiveness (76%), inadequate feedback (9%), bribery and corruption (9%), and police insensitivity (5%).

Graph 12: Satisfaction Rating of Police Handling of Complaints

iii.        Support for the Removal of Police Check Point

When asked to assess the Inspector General of Police's directives on the removal of police check points on the roads, 45% of respondents supported the removal of police check points on roads while 43% said they opposed it.  12% said they neither supported nor opposed it.

Graph 13: Support for the removal of road blocks by Nigerians

iv:        Quality of Policing in Nigeria:

59% of the respondents, which is nearly 6 out of 10 Nigerians, were of the opinion that the police is doing a good job, while 32% believe the police is doing a poor job.  19% were undecided.  There has been an improvement in the quality of policing in the country with positive ratings rising from 50% in 2012 to the current 59%.

Graph 14: Quality of Policing in Nigeria

v.         Satisfaction with Police Performance in Controlling Terrorism or Bombings

Just a little less than half of respondents (49%) interviewed said they were satisfied with the performance of the police in controlling terrorism or bomb attacks in the country.  32% said they were dissatisfied while 17% said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 2% said they do not know.

Graph 15: Satisfaction with Police Handling of Terrorism/Bomb Attacks

52% of respondents said they were satisfied with the way the Federal Government is handling the issue of terrorism or bomb attacks; 30% were dissatisfied, 16% said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 2% said they do not know.

Graph 16 (i): Federal Government Handling of Terrorism and Bombing Attacks

v.         Solving the Problem of Terrorism

A majority of the respondents (52%) suggested that the Federal Government should strengthen the capacity of the security agencies or use force to solve the problem caused by insurgents, 31% were of the view that dialogue will solve the problem of terrorism in the country, while 20% believed that the combined use of force and dialogue will solve the problem, and 10% suggested that appeasement with money will solve the problem.

Graph 16 (ii) Suggested Solutions to the FG on Handling of Problems of Terrorism

4: Others

i.          Demands for Bribes by Government Officials.

The findings of the survey indicated that levels of bribery and corruption among government officials in Nigeria remain high.  Nearly 1 out of every 4 respondents (24%) admitted having paid a bribe or having been asked to pay bribes by government officials before services could be rendered to them.  This is the same as the 24% result for 2012.

The 2013 survey also showed that bribery and corruption among public officials such as police, customs officers, court personnel, tax officials, anti-corruption agencies and PHCN employees were higher in Rivers with 48%, Borno (47%), Cross-River and Niger (both 44%), Gombe (40%), Ebonyi (39%), Ekiti and Anambra (both 37%) and Kwara, with 36%.  These states have incidences far above the national average of 24%. The lowest incidences were recorded in Katsina (7%) Ogun (6%) and Akwa-Ibom (5%) States.

Graph 17: Demands for Bribes by Government Officials by State

Among the public officials who demanded for bribes, the Police (33%), Immigration (26%), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (25%), Custom (24%), and NEPA/PHCN officials (23%) were the highest.

Graph 17(i) Propensity of Government Agencies to bribery

ii. Constraints against Anti Corruption Agencies

The respondents also identified some major constraints militating against the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria.  These include Government insincerity (37%), lack of funds and facilities (32%), corruption of the EFCC and ICPC officials (20%), and weak and corrupt judiciary (11%).

Graph 18: Reasons for the ineffectiveness of anti-corruption measures

iii.        Ownership of Firearms or guns

At the national level, 2% of respondents admitted owning firearms or guns, with the highest levels in the South East and North East (both 3%).  This represented a decrease from the 5% recorded at the national level in the 2012 survey.  Half (50%) the people who owned guns use them for personal protection.

Graph 19: Ownership of Guns across geopolitical zones

For more information about the National Crime and Safety Victimization Survey in Nigeria please visit www.cleen.org or send an email to cleen@cleen.org.

---

* Presented by 'Kemi Okenyodo, Executive Director CLEEN Foundation, a non-governmental organisation which aims to promote public safety, security and accessible justice in Nigeria and West Africa.