The fear of crime and public safety in urban Nigeria: Implications for policy options.

Abstract

Fear of crime has been a serious social problem, especially after the country gained independence from the British Colonists. In the recent time, there has been an upsurge in the criminal activities all over the country, ranging from terrorists attacks to herders/ farmers clashes to armed robbery to kidnapping to militancy uprising to militia unrest to students’ violence and to domestic assault. This increase in the prevalence of crime across the country has brought correspondence increase in its fear in the land. Fear has engulfed the heart of every citizen in the country including the rich and the political class. Nobody can sleep with the two eyes closed again. Consequently, political regions in the country are agitating for their separate security platforms to rescue their respective regions from the jaws of insecurity. Therefore, the aim of the study is to highlight the fear of crime among the urban dwellers in Nigeria, the socio psychological impact of the fear of crime and how it can be controlled in the society. It also
considered the fear concept of crime, the reason for its fear and what government can put in place to allay the fear. The study is basically theoretical and conceptual in approach and made use of secondary data from newspapers, articles, journals and books.