The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) on Tuesday said that kidnapped victims paid a total of about N2.2 billion as ransoms to secure their releases from between May 2023 and April 2024.
The NBS in a report on Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), said within the period under review, an estimated 51,887,032 crime incidences were experienced by households nationwide.
Among households that experienced kidnapping incidents, 65.0 percent paid a ransom with an average ransom payment of₦2,670,693.
Of 51,887,032 total number of crime incidents reported during the period, North-West with (14,402,254) reported the highest incidences of crime at household level, followed by North-Central (8,771,400), while South-East (6,176,031) reported the least.
The data revealed 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%) of the households who were victims of home robbery reported their experience to the police. According to this study, the most common reasons for not reporting crimes include lack of confidence in law enforcement and the belief that police intervention would not result in meaningful action.
At the individual level, 21.4 percent of Nigerians reported being victims of crime, and the most common crime was phone theft (13.8%). About 90 percent of the victims of phone thefts reported to the police, and only 50 percent of the victims expressed satisfaction with police
responses. Nationwide, an estimated 1.4 million experienced sexual offences, which occurred mostly in someone else’s home (27.7%), followed by the victim’s home (22.2%).
“Sexual offences are less likely to occur at a public transport station (0.9%), and only 22.7 percent of victims reported to the police.Public perception on safety shows that 9.6 percent of Nigerians believed they might be a victim of crime in the next 12 months. In rural areas, 13.0 percent of the population believed they could be victims of crime and 7.0 percent in urban area”, CESPS disclosed.
In terms of security agencies’ timely response to emergencies, the report put average security agencies response nationally at 33.1% , average response time to an emergency call by security agencies at less than 30 minutes.
“About 4 out of 10 households had at least one interaction with state or local security forces within the reference period. Also,1 out of 2 households had contact with the Nigerian Police, and 25.7 percent reported the incidence of crime to the police after experiencing a crime.
Satisfaction with police responses was notably low, particularly for crimes like livestock theft (42.9%) and crop theft (42.4%). In rural areas, many households rely on local vigilante groups”.
The Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) provides an in-depth understanding into the situation of crime in Nigeria. A household-based survey, the target population comprises household members 15 years and older.
The survey was carried out to produce estimates at national and zonal levels covering both urban and rural areas for a twelve-month reference period (May 2023 to April 2024).
The findings provide crucial insights for security agencies, stakeholders, and policymakers to improve public safety and align with the Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs).
