The effect of bad road on crime reportage in Southwestern Nigeria: Akure

Abstract

This study examined the impact of roads conditions (good and bad) on crime reportage to the police in Akure, Southwestern Nigeria. Coordinate points of crime scenes and information from key informants were the primary data. Secondary data used were administrative map and SPOT 6 satellite imagery. The results revealed that roads that were good or fair were found at the central part of the study area while roads that were bad were found toward the outskirts. Crime incidences were highly significant in areas where good roads were and insignificant in areas where bad roads were. This implied that victims were able to report crime incidence to police quickly and police were able to respond to distress call and thereby to high rate of apprehension of offenders in areas with good roads. While opposite is the situation in areas with bad roads. The study concluded that governments at all levels in Nigeria (federal, state and local governments) need to do more in road reconstruction and rehabilitation to help security agencies to perform better.