An analysis of the method of approach (MA) and modus operandi (MO) of armed robbery and armed robbers in contemporary Nigeria

Abstract

This article argues that armed robbers in contemporary Nigeria have characteristic methods of approach (MA) and modus operandi (MO), which are systemic and near methodological. It further states that the choice of a specific MA and the accompanying MO is often based on a deliberate calculation of rational options, with the intention of committing an efficient, successful robbery. The researcher acknowledges that sometimes this deliberate decision-making process is affected by unforeseen factors, which compel robbers to make irrational decisions that can jeopardise the robbery’s chances of success. The present study analyses some of the important MA and MO adopted by armed robbers in contemporary Nigeria, which show elements of both rationality and irrationality. A cross-sectional self-reporting design was used in the study, whereby armed robbers were interviewed and allowed to talk freely about the MA–MO they employed. Samples were collected using a non-random, convenience (chain-referral) technique, from three prisons in the South Eastern States of Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with victims and eyewitness accounts were obtained in order to corroborate or reject the researchers’ assumptions. Finally, a content analysis of data from three newspapers and Tell magazine was carried out. The data analysis revealed that both the MA and the MO of Nigerian armed robbers are complex, and range from orthodox to unorthodox. Factors including robbers’ individual experiences, the type of robbery and other extraneous factors are significant in influencing the choice to use one or another MA or MO in a robbery. It is the researchers’ belief that thoroughly understanding armed robbers’ decision-making processes is a key way of combatting the threat of armed robbery and, by extension, other acts of violence, such as terrorism, in Nigeria.