Appraisal of Thuggery, Violence and Socio-political Conflict in Lagos State during 2023 Nigerian General Elections

Sociopolitical conflict, thuggery and electoral violence are great challenges of many democratic societies, especially in developing countries. In Nigeria particularly, these societal anomalies keep devastating most major elections in the country. The foundation of electoral violence in Nigeria has often been attributed to social and political marginalization, poverty, unemployment and under-employment and other excruciating human conditions. This paper attempts to examine socio-political violence and determine the causes and effects of violent thuggery on Lagos state during 2023 Nigerian general elections. The research adopts World Systems Theory and Social Conflict Theory particularly to elucidate the discourse. For the purpose of this study a minimum percentage of 0.0035 of the total registered voters in Lagos state (7,060,195) were sampled randomly by means of online form, amounting to approximately two hundred and forty-eight (248) items of a questionnaire. Corruption, unemployment, inadequate security and lack of integrity from the electoral umpire (Independent National Electoral Commission) ranked highest as the major causes of thuggery and electoral violence in the country. Effects found include civil unrest, population displacement, disability, loss of property, and death. The study recommends decentralisation of Nigerian security system to promote prompt and effective containment of violence associated with general elections. It prescribes further mitigation of political exclusion economic deprivation, equitable resource distribution, and also embarking on implementation of poverty reduction policies.