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Private Security Companies And Crime Prevention
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In describing insecurity in Nigerian urban cities, Osahon (1996 in Dogon-yaro, 1996) stated that:
Actually
we are under severe siege already as a people. Fear now rules our daily
lives. Ugly, harrowing fear of the known and unknown. When we go out in
the mornings, we are not sure we will return home safely and with our
cars and other property including even the shoes on our feet or the
ear¬ring in our ears. If we are lucky to arrive to find our homes
unraided in our absence, we sleep with one eye open expecting the worst
any moment of the night. In other words, we do not sleep any more. in
our ability to perform daily activities (Dogon-yaro, 1996:224).
This
situation also existed in other growing cities in Niger state such as
Minna, Kontagora, Bida, Suleja, and a few other towns. The public
response to perpetual fear and insecurity was to take laws into its own
hands. In July 1987, butchers, traders, and unemployed persons in Minna
vented their wrath over police harassment, intimidation, and extortion
in a six- hour rampage against police and soldiers that was quelled by
military units (The library of Congress Country Studies and CIA
Factbook, 1991).
Again, in May, 2009, two lecturers from School of
Nursing Bida were bathed with acid in their staff quarters by students
suspected to have been withdrawn by the institution for having failed in
all their first semester examinations. It was noted that the staff
quarters lacked security guards unlike the school premises and the
culprits were not apprehended (Sunday Trust, May 17, 2009). However, in
July, 2009, Newline news paper reported that, the family of one Mr.
James Omeize, the proprietor of Brighter International School in Minna
was kidnapped in Minna and the kidnapper demanded 20 million naira for
his release in far away Benin City in Edo state.
Other insecurity
instances abound in the state as many cases are not even reported to the
police or captured by any vigilant watch dog. The Nigeria police has
always came under severe criticism; being accused of falling victims to
every negative unfavourable character, devoid of any measure
commensurate to their oath of office. In other words, this weakened
capacity of the Nigeria Police to fight crime (i.e shortage of staff,
obsolete equipment, corruption, defective training programmes, police
discretion etc) has led to increase in other policing agencies across
the country over the years. It is due to the importance attached to
security of lives and property that both the professional and
non-professional security outfits came into existence in these urban
centres.
After about two decades of the flourishing of private
security industry in Niger State, it appears PSCs have not received much
scholarly attention in terms of the services they provide. One wonders
if the seeming increase in the number of private security companies in
Niger state is caused by the desire for improved security or other
ulterior motives. It is in the light of the above problems, that this
research work is aimed at examining the private security companies in
Niger state.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research
questions are formulated to guide the study:- I. How were the security
needs of the people in Niger state provided during the traditional era?
II. What factors necessitated the establishment of PSCs?
III. How effective are these PSCs in their security functions?
IV. What are their major constraints in carrying out these functions?
V. What are the strategies for overcoming these constraints in order to make them more
efficient?
VI. What is the relationship between PSCs and the Police?
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