39% of Nigerians feel unsafe – Survey

A survey carried out by the CLEEN Foundation has found that four in 10 Nigerians (39 %) feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods, while about one-third or 31 per cent said they had experienced theft. The Afrobarometer survey carried out in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory between 2014 and January, 2015 by the foundation, stated that 20 per cent of Nigerians had been physically attacked. The survey titled, ‘Nigerians perceptions of security and armed extremism,’ measures citizens’ attitudes on democracy and governance, the economy, civil society, among others, noted that more than half of the citizens said the government has been ineffective in fighting armed extremism in the country. “Almost four in 10 Nigerians (39%) do not feel safe in their neighbourhoods, one-third (33%) say they feared crime in their homes and almost one- third (31%) experienced theft and 20 per cent were physically attacked,” it stated. Speaking at the survey presentation in Abuja on Tuesday, the Vice Chairman, CLEEN Foundation Board of Trustees, Frank Odita, explained that the purpose of the Afrobarometer survey is to measure popular perspectives on the social, political, and economic environment. He noted that the goal is to give the public a voice in policy-making processes by providing high quality public opinion data to policy-makers, the media, academics, donors, investors and ordinary citizens. Odita said the Afrobarometer survey is an African- led, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, development and economic issues in more than 30 countries. According to him, the Afrobarometer team in Nigeria had conducted five rounds of surveys between 1999 and 2013, adding that the surveys are carried out through face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples. Odita said, “We went to the greatest length in quality control measures in order to ensure the process of collecting and analysing the data we are presenting adhered to the highest possible international standards in reliability.”