Crime as a Threat to National Security:

A Case Study of Benin City from 1999- 2014

Abstract

This research was designed to examine crime as a source of threat to national
security since the inception of the Fourth Republic, using Benin City as a case
study. Four research questions were raised to enable the researcher to obtain
information from respondents. One hundred and sixty copies of a questionnaire
were used in the analysis. The paper sought to identify the most prevalent crime in
the state, what measures to ameliorate the situation, and the effectiveness of such
measure.
To answer the research questions, personal interviews with respondents were
conducted and questionnaires were also administered. Also textbooks, journals
and publications from the Nigerian Police Force were sourced for the paper . The
analysis was based on an adaptation of Robert Agnew's 1992 general strain
theory . The data collected was then analyzed to ascertain how crime constituted a
security threat in the study area.
Findings show that crime was on the increase despite the presence of security
agencies and neighborhood watch. And the main factors responsible for this
increase in crime are the high rate of unemployment, increase in population and
the get rich quick syndrome. It was recommended therefore that crime
prevention should be integrated into social and educational policies, and policies
should be introduced to promote moral values, monitor adherence to laws, and
strengthen responses to crime.