An Assessment of Anthropogenic Hazards in Gombe State: A Criminality Perspective

Criminality is one societal hazard bedeviling Gombe state in the last two decades. It manifests in various forms and is being committed by individuals, political thugs and of recent, armed groups. The study has assessed the recent trends in criminality with the objectives of identifying the hot spots of criminality and the perpetrators of crime, the trends, causes and its implication for state development. The study also looked at the implications of criminality to the state’s development and proffered strategies to curb it. The study was exploratory and was conducted using existing literature as its secondary source of data. Hence, data were collected from books, journals, the internet, and security reports. Unstructured interviews with the public, state security operatives, the Police Community Relation Committee, voluntary security operatives, the vigilante formed the sources of primary data. Data collected were analyzed leading to logical deductions and recommendations. The results were presented quantitatively using tables and bar charts. The results revealed that high level poverty, unemployment, drug abuse are the contributing factors to criminality in the study area. The study revealed also that the trend in criminality in the last few months were theft, armed robbery, insurgency, communal conflicts and kidnapping. The study recommends a combination of training in entrepreneurship, employment of youths, creation of security outpost in flash point areas, clamp down on illicit drug peddlers and consumers and quick dispensation of justice and public enlightenment among other ways to curb the menace of criminality.