A WEB OF CRIMES, ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY AND THE DEEPENING SCOURGE OF ARMED BANDITRY IN NIGERIA

The incidence of banditry in Nigeria has assumed an unprecedented mien which constitutes a major bane to the hitherto troubled security in the country. The phenomenon has created a multi-pronged security challenge that has amplified the spate of destruction of life and property and displacement. Meanwhile, inchoate and nascent erudition is still associated with the incidence of banditry in Nigeria. Thus, this study attempts to satiate this lacuna by annotating the incidence from the Routine Activity Theory standpoint. The study adopts a descriptive and analytical armchair analysis which relies on a secondary source of data. The study found out that the menace of banditry is prevalent in Nigeria, particularly in the Northwest. Some of the methods favoured by bandits include armed robbery, cattle rustling, arson, sexual violence, kidnapping, raiding villages and schools, looting, stealing livestock and gruesome killing. The incidence is attributable to the conflicts between farmers and herders for scarce resources, the influx of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) into Nigeria, an overwhelmed, weak and understaffed security apparatus, illegal mining, slow response and poor engagement of the Nigerian government, and a vast ungoverned forest territory. To adequately address the incidence of banditry in Nigeria, the study recommends a prevention strategy that focuses on the three major areas identified by the Routine Activity Theory: the motivated offender, the suitable target, and the absence of guardianship