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Vigilantism And Crime Control In Contemporary Nigeria
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Provision
of adequate security is a social pre-requisite for the survival of any
society. Every society takes appropriate measures to protect the lives
and property of people living within its boundaries. Business and social
activities may not go on freely without adequate security. This
fundamental essence of security may be the reason why societies from
time immemorial made efforts to police their neighbourhoods in order to
secure them from criminal victimization. Security has to do with the act
of preventing and protecting in order to ensure that certain
facilities, equipment, persons or activities are safe from damage,
pilferage, destruction, murder or disruption. The history of crime
control dates back to the period when public order was the
responsibility of appointed magistrates, who were unpaid private
individuals. The first paid public police officer was the praeffectus
urbi, a position created in Rome in approximately 27 C (Roberg and
Kuykendall, 1993). After the fall of the Roman Empire and the subsequent
anarchy that followed, kings began to assume the responsibility for
legal administration by strengthening the night watch. Roberg and
Kuykendall, (1993) also pointed out that in the twelfth century in
England, through Trankpledged’ system which was based on an organization
of tithings (ten families) and hundreds (ten tithings), men over the
age of fifteen formed a posse comitatus, a group called out to pursue
fleeing felons. Thus, the sheriffs who ensured that this Frankpledge
system worked were responsible for policing the country.
However, as
societies became increasingly complex, social life was disrupted.
Existing systems of law enforcement were inadequate to respond to the
problems associated with these
changes. As a result, night watch
system was introduced. This system involved bellmen who walked round the
city, ringing bells and providing policing services. The bellmen were
later replaced by untrained citizens and much later by paid constables.
However, in 1829, Sir Robert Peel established the first modern uniformed
police force, the metropolitan police of London, whose primary
responsibility was the prevention of crime. (Roberg and Kuykendall,
1993, Reid 5th ed..) Vigilantism is not a recent development. Before
1900, many vigilant groups were formed in frontier areas of the United
States. In 1851 and 1856, concerned citizens in San Francisco organized
vigilante committees that forcibly restored peace and order. (world book
encyclopedia, u-v20:318, Encyclopedia Americana, vol.24:204). In south
Africa, vigilante activity is frequently justified as ‘filling a
policing gap’ due to police inefficiency, corruption and conspiracy with
criminals, practical failing in the criminal justice system. In Sierra-
Leone, vigilante activities have been explained in terms of police
ineffectiveness in combating crimes (Brownyn, 2001).
In Nigeria,
vigilantism existed in the pre-colonial era. Human Right Watch and
Center for law enforcement and education report, (2002) noted that
“vigilante and other self - defense groups currently operating in
Nigeria have roots that reach deep into the country’s history. In the
colonial era, some though not all independent local communities,
especially in the South east maintained their own standing Army to
defend their territory against the threat of invasion from neighbouring
communities. Although there was no equivalent modern day structure at
that time, some parallels can be drawn between these groups which were
created by local communities for their own protection, and the more
recently formed self -defense groupsâ€. This is also true in Udenu Local
Government Area of Enugu State where vigilantism was used as a means of
both social and crime control before the advert of colonial rule.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The inability of the Nigerian Police to control the increasing wave of crime has led to proliferation of vigilante groups in contemporary Nigeria.This study was initiated to investigate the impact of vigilante groups on crime control in contemporary Nigeria, particularly in Udenu L.G.A of Enugu State. Seven hundred and twenty (720) respondents were sampled from Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Multi-stage, cluster and simple random sampling methods were used as the sampling techniques ... Continue reading---
