While the Nigerian government has reportedly, put in more effort to combat crime in the country, some felonies are still perpetrated at an alarming rate, one of which is murder.
According to the recently released "Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey 2024" by the National Bureau of Statistics, 0.9 percent of households reported murder cases within the last year.
Murder incidence in Nigeria came in at 614,937 in 2024.
The report revealed that rural regions had 335,827, while urban areas had 279,110. Further study by zone revealed that the North-West had the most murders (206,030), followed by the North-East (188,992), and the South-West had the fewest (15,693).
"Murder incidence refers to the number of murders occurring within a specific population over a defined period typically expressed per 100,000 people.
The factors influencing murder incidence are socio-economic conditions, cultural norms, gang activity, organized crime, and political stability," the report states.
Further analysis showed that an estimated 7 in 10 households reported murder cases to the police nationwide, in the period under review.
Of this data, only 33.6 percent of households who reported murder cases noted that they were satisfied with the police response, denoting that 66.4% were unsatisfied with the police response.
"It was observed that more households in the Urban areas (35.7%) expressed satisfaction with the police response than in rural areas (31.8%)," the report revealed.
Consequently, a significant amount of people decided against reporting murder cases to the police.
A survey conducted, revealed why some Nigerians decided not to report a murder to the police, and below are 10 of these reasons according to the NBS's report.
10 reasons why Nigerians didn't report murder cases to the police in 2024
| 1. | Reported to other authorities instead | 39.9% |
| 2. | Police could do nothing/lack of proof | 27.5% |
| 3. | Didn't dare(for fear of reprisal) | 15.8% |
| 4. | My family resolved it | 15.5% |
| 5. | Fear/dislike of the police/no involvement wanted with police | 13.2% |
| 6. | Inappropriate for police/police not necessary | 7.6% |
| 7. | Other reasons | 7.5% |
| 8. | Don't know | 5.5% |
| 9. | No insurance | 4.0% |
| 10. | Solved it myself/perpetrator known to me | 0.0% |
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