By Ere-ebi Agedah
A new opinion poll conducted by NOIPolls and its partners, AfroBarometer has revealed that crime and insecurity are top in the urgent needs Nigerian citizens want government to provide solutions to.
According to NOIPolls, an increasing number of citizens do not feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods as forceful abduction and kidnapping have remained sources of worry even as greater number of citizens believe the security agencies, particularly the police have not done enough to mitigate the upsurge on number of kidnapping cases across Nigeria.
Presenting the report to stakeholders and Journalist in Abuja on Tuesday, the CEO NOIPolls Dr. Chike Nwangwu said while 41 per cent of respondents want government to address crime and insecurity, 39 want urgent solutions to the country’s economic management while 35 per cent want issue of unemployment resolved.
He said no region of the country appears safe as criminality is on the increase with the likelihood of criminals invading people’s homes to attack, raising fear and uncertainty in the minds of greater number of citizens.
He added that the survey further exposed the fact that Nigerians have lost trust in the Nigerian Police and their ability to effectively address the issues of insecurity, kidnapping and abduction.
In his remarks, a security consultant and the CEO Beacon Consulting, Kabir Adamu said the data is a tool that can be used by policymakers and researchers to develop modalities on how to curtail crimes and the growing security concerns in Nigeria
“We know there are drivers of insecurity, manifestations of insecurity and what this survey did is to reinforce or challenge some of the narratives out there, for policymakers interested in genuinely finding solutions to security challenges, they will pick up this report, look into it and decide to make steps to act on it” he said.
According Adamu, the lack of feeling of safety in the minds of Nigerians is justified, highlighting that about 6,000 citizens have been killed since June this year alone, saying the fear that anyone could fall victim to extra-judicial killing in the hands of non-state actors in the enablers of the sense of insecurity.
While revealing that the estimated 6,000 died from security challenges, he added that deaths related to safety issues such as health, particularly Covid-19 and the flooding ravaging parts the country at the moment will increase the figure.
He said addressing insecurity now would help in strengthening the integrity of the 2023 general elections, dismissing fear that elections may not hold as a result of insecurity.
Afrobarometer team in Nigeria, led by NOIPolls says it interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,600 adult citizens in March 2022.
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