By Kolawole Ojebisi
The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed how Nigerians paid a whopping N2.23tn as ransom over a period of 12 months spanning May 2023 and April 2024.
This dismal development speaks of the alarming rates at which kidnapping and other criminal activities are thriving in the country.
According to the NBS’s latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report, an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across Nigerian households in the reference period.
Breaking down the crime rates according to the geopolitical zones in the country, the survey showed the North-West region had the highest incidence of crime, with 14.4 million cases reported.
It is followed by the North-Central region with 8.8 million incidents.In contrast, the South-East region reported the least crime, with 6.18 million incidents.
The findings also revealed that rural areas were more affected by crime than urban areas, with 26.53 million crime incidents in rural households compared to 25.36 million in urban areas.
The report highlighted the severity of kidnapping, with 4.14 million households experiencing home robbery.
Of those affected by kidnappings, 65 per cent were forced to pay ransom to secure the release of victims.
The average ransom paid was N2.67m, contributing to the total of N2.23tn paid by Nigerians to criminals during the 12 months. Despite this, only 36.3 per cent of those who experienced home robbery reported the incidents to the police, with a similarly low reporting rate for kidnapping.
The report read, “Nationally, an estimated 51,887,032 crime incidences were experienced by households. The North-West (14,402,254) reported the highest incidences of crime at the household level, followed by the North-Central (8,771,400), while the South-East (6,176,031) reported the least. The result also shows that the crime incidence in the rural area (26,526,069) was higher than that of the urban area (25,360,963).
“In Nigeria, 4,142,174 households experienced home robbery. Less than half (36.3 per cent) of the households who were victims of home robbery reported their experience to the police. Among households that experienced kidnapping incidents, 65.0 per cent paid a ransom.
“The average amount paid as ransom was N2,670,693, with an estimated total ransom of N2,231,772,563,507 paid within the reference period.”
The survey also revealed that 21.4 per cent of Nigerians fell victim to crime at the individual level, with phone theft being the most common crime, affecting 13.8 per cent of the population.
While 90 per cent of phone theft victims reported the crimes to the police, only half of those victims were satisfied with the police response.
Also, the survey estimated that 1.4 million Nigerians were victims of sexual offences, with most incidents occurring in someone else’s home or the victim’s residence.
Only about 22.7 per cent of sexual offence victims reported the crimes to the police.
Despite the widespread nature of crime, public perception of safety remains low. The survey found that 9.6 per cent of Nigerians believed they were at risk of becoming victims of crime within the next 12 months.
The fear of crime was higher in rural areas, where 13 per cent of the population felt vulnerable, compared to 7 per cent in urban areas.
The report also questioned the effectiveness of Nigeria’s security agencies, particularly the police, in responding to emergencies.
Only 33.1 per cent of Nigerians reported that security agencies responded to emergency calls within 30 minutes.
The survey revealed that approximately 4 out of 10 households interacted with state or local security forces during the survey period, with half of these households contacting the Nigerian Police.
However, satisfaction with police responses was notably low, especially in cases of livestock and crop theft, where only 42.9 per cent and 42.4 per cent of victims expressed satisfaction, respectively.
In many rural areas, local vigilante groups were seen as a more reliable source of security.
