A PURVIEW OF THE CAUSES OF YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN ARMED BANDITRY IN KADUNA STATE, NORTH WESTERN NIGERIA (2012-2022)

Abstract

The work is a sociological inquisition of the causes of youth involvement inarmed banditry in Kaduna State (2012-2022). The following research objectives guided thestudy: investigate the socio-economic factors responsible for youth involvement in armedbanditry in Kaduna State; determine the institutional lapses in governance responsible for youthinvolvement in armed banditry; and analyse the government’s poor policy formulation andimplementation responsible for youth involvement in armed banditry in the study area. Thestudy was anchored on the Routine Activities Theory by Cohen and Felson. Using a multi-stage sampling of cluster, stratified and simple random sampling, 1000 residents of the affectedcommunities were administered questionnaires. In addition, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)and In-depth Interviews were purposively conducted with members of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF), vigilantes, traditional leaders, youth leaders and arrested bandits. The quantitative datafrom the use of questionnaires were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) version 23.0 with descriptive statistics and Principal Factor Analysis (PFA). The studyrevealed that all the 10 variables given as socio-economic factors were responsible for youthinvolvement in armed banditry in the State. This was because the Bartlett’s test of sphericityχ2(75) = 4904.270 for the socio-economic factors was statistically significant at P < 0.01.Additionally, the study revealed that though 10 socio-economic variables were responsible foryouth involvement in armed banditry in the State, the abuse of hard drugs had the highest factorloading value with 0.92. In contrast, peer influence had the second highest factor loading valuewith 0.91. The study further revealed that although 7 variables were given as the institutionallapses in governance that resulted in youth involvement in armed banditry in the State, all theseven variables identified were retained. Also, the Bartlett’s test of sphericity χ2 (21) =4904.270 for the factors was statistically significant at P< 0.01. At the same time, thediminishing role of traditional institutions in the governance of Kaduna State had the highestfactor loading value of 0.79. More so, inadequate policing and weak security arrangements ofthe State came second with 0.78 factor loading. The study recommended that the Federal andState governments in the State must ensure that they minimized the abuse of hard drugs, youthunemployment, and poverty and reduce the ungoverned spaces in the State.