Are crimes truly a reflection of our society ? That sounds like a Billion dollar question. I believe the crimes that plague a society typifies its place on its evolutionary journey. And my beloved nation north of the Atlantic, nestled on the triangular Bight of Benin and Bight of Biafra and hemmed in by Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon is no exception.
Although Simple Offenses (Non-violent & White collar crimes) and Violent Crimes must be interpreted in context. The complexity and sophistication of the scheme and weaponry deployed must be considered before making a blanket conclusion that either exist on opposite sides of the evolutionary spectrum. Au contraire ! Both can exist side by side in the simplest of societies as well as in the most complex.
In the piece below I have created a list of detainees and offenses in a fictional police station to illustrate my point. The names and dates are purely symbolic and unintended to defame or offend any individual or class of persons.
The objective of having a list of detainees hung conspicuously for all to see is to afford friends and family who are in search of a missing loved one to determine at a glance whether such person was being held by the police. A relic of our Colonial History. Apparently some Stations fail to update the list as often as they should. Leading to detainees being lost and forgotten within the system (Another topic for Justice Reform). An Inherited tradition is only sustainable if the Administrators aren’t tragically dislocated from the beneficiaries.
In the 60s till early 80s crime fighters only had petty crimes like loitering, two fighting and house-breaking to combat.
But in the 1990s we witnessed drug pushing, smuggling and Obtaining by false pretenses (aka. 419). Post Millennium bug, with the explosion of the internet, financial crimes went digital. Cyber-crimes also known as Yahoo-Yahoo (because most of the crimes began with a scam mail from a Fictitious Nigerian Prince) became the meal-ticket of unemployed youths.
Nowadays the evil triumvirate the Government, and indeed the people, is faced with is Banditry, Kidnapping and Terrorism. None of the geopolitical zones is spared. North East, North West, North Central, South West, South-South, and South East. None. Traveling by road is like sending sheep to the slaughter. I am sure a lot of my countrymen can relate –
DrAlexanderGrey 