CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
The menace of crime across the globe is a serious concern. Every
country across the globe has its particular problems. The West African
sub region and in particular Nigeria is not an exception. One of such
teething problems and challenges confronting the country is the rising
wave of crime. This study is aimed at examining the factors responsible
for the increasing wave of crime in Nigeria, Edo state in particular.
Criminal offences simply put are those behaviors or attitudes
that are punishable by law. Okoro et al 2012 opined that a criminal
offence is a crime against the state. It can also be called 'breaking
the law'. If you are accused of a criminal offence, the charge sheet or
will say what offence you have been charged with. Generally in
Nigeria, the level of crime offences has risen sporadically. This may be
caused by a host of factors. Crime rates in different states are not
on the same level, there are states where the level of crime is higher
than others. According to the Nigeria police force, crime rate in
Nigeria has risen geometrically overtime. Crime is an inhibitor to the
economic, political and social progress of a nation and a major factor
for underdevelopment; this is because it discourages both local and
foreign investments, reduces the quality of life of its citizens, and
damages relationship between citizens and states, thus undermining
democracy, the rule of law and the ability of the country to promote
sustainable development and peace (Abayomi 2013). The consequences of
crime touch almost everyone in one way or the other. We are going to
streamline our research work on crime offences in Nigeria to Edo state,
Benin City precisely. This is because of its strategic location on the
geographical map of Nigeria and its important socio economic and
cultural values.
Causes of crime
Crime can be caused by so many factors, criminologists in their
knowledge of crime has stipulated some core causes of crime across the
globe. The following are some of the major causes of crime
- Unemployment: the increase of unemployed youths across the
world has lead to a steady rise in crime and corrupt practices. This is
simply because when people are jobless or idle there is that chance of
them criminally being busy.
- Political activities: in the West African sub region, this
factor is the chief cause of the rise of criminal activities. During
political happenings, politicians leverage on the high rate of
unemployment in this part of the world to recruit idle youths who would
willingly engage in this unholy acts to make a living.
- Crises or social unrest: naturally during cases of crises and
social unrest, there is a high tendency for Criminal activities to be
at its peak.
Statement of the general problem
In Nigeria, Edo state in particular, crime has impeded the
development of the state. Crime offences in the state have done the
state more harm than good. Criminality has taken a new dimension in
Benin, crimes are being committed in a more sophisticated manner, and
criminals have devised ways of evading the watchful eyes of the
security operatives. This has led us to this research work, to be able
to discover those new dimensions of crime in Benin so that we can
proffer solutions of reducing crime by updating the security operatives
and the general citizens of Edo state and Nigeria at large.
There is also a major concern to know if crime is age and gender
related. That is, do people within certain age bracket commit more
crime than others and does a particular gender engage in criminal
activities than the other. There is equally another concern of knowing
the level of crime in Benin City, are the security operatives doing a
good job? Have government being committed to positively employing our
youths? Etc
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
This study is aimed at the following;
- To statistically analyze the level of crime in Benin City.
- To know if crime in Benin is age and gender related.
- To discover if crime has a relationship with educational background.
- To discover other causes of crime in Benin City.
- To proffer new ways of curbing crime in Benin City.
- To know which age grade is more involved in criminal activities in Benin City.
- To know which crimes are most committed in Benin City and causes.
1.3. Significance of the study
The significance of this study is mainly to ascertain the level of
crime in Benin City, to know if crime is age, gender related. Another
importance of this study is to know if there is a relationship between
crime and educational background, to discover which age group is more
involved in criminal activities. Another very cardinal significance of
this study is to know the frequently committed crimes in Benin City and
causes.
1.4 Scope and limitations of the study
This study is centered on the statistical analysis of the crime
offenses recorded in Benin City (from 1999-2014), knowing. Another
scope of the study is to know if crime in Benin City is age and gender
related. Thirdly, to know the frequently committed crimes in Edo state.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
It is necessary to mention some of the limitations in this
research work. The chief limitation is the difficulty in obtaining
relevant information in that a few of our values gotten from the police
divisional headquarters Benin City were missing but these missing
values were not statistical significant enough to be noticed. Another
limitation is the difficulty in administering questionnaire and
retrieving in that respondents were not prompt in filling out the
questionnaire.
Notwithstanding, in the highlighted limitation above, it
is hoped that this research will be useful to Edo state and
the general public.
1.5 Definition of terms
Crime: activities that involve breaking the law.
Criminal: the illegal act of somebody
or group of people failing to do something that they should do. It also
means connected with or involving crime.
Criminal activity: an act committed
in violation of the law where the consequences of conviction by a
court are punishment, especially where the punishment is a serious one
such as imprisonment.
1.6. Research hypotheses
The research hypotheses are as follows:
HYPOTHESIS 1
H0: there is no significant relationship between age and criminal offences in Benin City.
H1: there is a significant relationship between age and criminal offences in Benin City
Level of significance: 0.05
Decision rule: reject H0 if p-value is less than the level of significance. Accept H0 if otherwise.
HYPOTHESIS 2
H0: there is no significant relationship between gender and criminal offences in Benin City.
H1: there is a significant relationship between gender and criminal offences in Benin City
Level of significance: 0.05
Decision rule: reject H0 if p-value is less than the level of significance. Accept H0 if otherwise.
HYPOTHESIS 3
H0: there is no significant relationship between educational background and criminal offences in Benin City.
H1: there is no significant relationship between educational background and criminal offences in Benin City.
Level of significance: 0.05
Decision rule: reject H0 if p-value is less than the level of significance. Accept H0 if otherwise.