Abstract
Abstract
 This study examines the social factors that underpin the feeling of safety among residents in metropolitan Lagos. The paper is anchored on the instrumental and expressive theories of fear of crime and feeling of safety. It utilized quantitative data that were generated from 1,107 community members aged 18 who were drawn from four Local Government Areas of Lagos state. The study found a strong positive association between sex, employment, ethnicity, income; perceived neighbourhood crime level, experience of victimization, neighbourhood disorderliness and feeling of safety.It was recommended that relevant agencies of government-the police especially, must strive harder to improve citizens’ feeling of safety, because of its profound implications for the flourishing of democracy, economic development, social capital, associational life and the quality of life.
Highlights
Social life in Nigeria has remained largely characterized by fear and insecurity (Odinkalu, 2005)
Added to these are the frequent and sporadic outbursts of religious, ethnic and communal violence, all of which combine to paint a picture of a country that is under siege and where the fear of crime and victimization has become the common denominator of existence
It is against the foregoing background that this study examines the social factors that influence the feeling of safety among residents of metropolitan Lagos
Summary
Social life in Nigeria has remained largely characterized by fear and insecurity (Odinkalu, 2005). This derives largely from the rising wave of crime and criminal victimization across the country. Nigerians are buffeted by an array of other criminals including fraudsters, scammers, cultists and armed street gangs. Added to these are the frequent and sporadic outbursts of religious, ethnic and communal violence, all of which combine to paint a picture of a country that is under siege and where the fear of crime and victimization has become the common denominator of existence. Unsure of whom the victim would be, where, when and how, most citizens live in fear and trepidation
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