SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MOB JUSTICE AND ITS SECURITY IMPLICATIONS IN IBRAHIM BADAMASI BABANGIDA MARKET SULEJA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

There have been concerns from many quarters as to whether the formal authorities in Nigeria are capable of protecting the people from the menace of criminals, as the rate of crime in the country keeps growing at alarming proportion despite the huge amount of money allocated to the security sector in every year’s budget. As a result of the personal feelings of vulnerability by the people, the phenomenon of mob justice has as well been growing as the people resolve to take the laws into their hands to administer punishment on suspected criminals. This study investigated the phenomenon of mob justice in relation to crime in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Market, Suleja. The forms, causes and consequences of mob justice in the market are the specific objectives the study accomplished. The study was guided by the emergent norms theory of crowd behaviour propounded by Killian and Turner (1972). In the course of the study, 286 traders in the market were selected (using systematic sampling technique) and surveyed. In addition, the leaders of the market authority and security organisations were selected (using purposive sampling technique) and interviewed. The data obtained revealed that mob justice is prevalent due mainly to not only rise in crime but also ineffective security in the market. The findings of the study also revealed that neither religion, nor ethnicity have influence in the occurrence of mob justice in the market, and the form of punishment inflicted on a suspected criminal is always hardly as brutal as it is in other places in the country. It is recommended that the government should restructure the market and re-enforce the security organisations in order to combat crime and mob justice in the market and beyond