TRANS-BORDER CRIME AND HUMAN SECURITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria is facing serious security challenges that are consuming lives and properties and threatening the existence of the world’s most populous black nation. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between transnational crime and human security in Nigeria in order to identify the forces behind the trend of transnational crime in the country. Using ex-post fact research design, the study relied on secondary sources of data that was subjected to content analysis. The paper finds out that upsurge in the rate of crime, militancy, banditry, and overall insurgency cannot be divorced as consequence of the massive arms trade and trafficking in Nigeria. With more than 7 million illicit arms circulating in the country, the trend is aided by the porous Nigeria’s land border, complicity of political actors and agents of law enforcement agencies. Drug trafficking is another trans-border crime that is rife in Nigeria. Between 2000 and 2014, the NDLEA arrested 86,314 for drug related offences while the number of drug traffickers increased to 80,826 in 2014 from 464 in 1990. Majority of the victims of human trafficking from Africa are Nigerians. In this study, two forces were identified as responsible for the trend in transnational crime in Nigeria namely: political and economic forces. The paper recommends that government must demonstrate the political will to end the country’s economic woes as this is the root of trans-border crimes in Nigeria and increase the capacity of relevant institutions towards containing transnational crime.