High rate of crimes attributed to deprivation of rights

By Caleb Ayansina

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Africa Centre for Citizen Orientation, has attributed the high rate of crimes in Nigeria to the deprivation of rights and dignity of citizen, thereby, poses threat to peaceful resolution of differences and rightful participation of all in the democratic process.

The Representative of the Association, Mr. Casey Adeleye who stated this while briefing newsmen on the forthcoming of the Africa Regional Youth Crime Prevention and Development Conference (Secure Africa 2012) in Abuja called for the effective justice system to prevent escalation of crime rate.

His words, “While terrorism and crime is a national problem, its control is primarily a responsibility of local units of government. An inability to prevent or deal effectively with acts of criminality and terrorism has a number of negative consequences.

“When individual commit violations and escape being processed through the criminal justice system, future illegal acts are encouraged. Escalating crime rate require that resources, which could be devoted to other social problems, be diverted to the crime-control effort, resulting in the further entertainment of such ills as poverty, substandard housing, and inadequate medical delivery systems”.