Intelligence-Led Policing and Kidnapping Crimes Prevention and Control in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Abstract

Recent experiences have shown that the Nigerian kidnappers are increasingly becoming daring, bolder, fearless and ruthless as they now kidnap at will anytime of the day. They kidnap both the rich and the poor, young and old, men, women and children; locals and foreigners. The objectives of the study were to assess the intelligence-led policing in the prevention and control of kidnapping crimes, and determine the challenges that intelligence-led policing encounter in Nigeria. The study was guided by conflict theory. The study employed a survey research design and the target population consisted of police officers in FCT Abuja. Cluster sampling techniques were used to select police officers. In the total, the sample respondents were 330. Primary data was collected through questionnaires. Validity was determined using content validity while reliability was done using test retest method. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistic and it was presented in form of tables and charts. The findings revealed that kidnapping in FCT Abuja was characterized by criminal informer, targeting of criminals unlike particular crime and holistic investigation of crimes using results-oriented tactics and strategies. The study recommends that government needs to commit more resources toward intelligence-led policing so that police officers can be trained, equipment and technology can be procured and the need for police officers to come up with realistic performance indicators through the use of intelligence-led policing.