GEOGRAPHICAL MAPPING OF CRIME HOTSPOTS IN IBARAPA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Due to insecurity, Ibarapa land is believed to be the most challenging zone in Oyo State. Ibarapa axis of Oyo has been the hotbed of several violent clashes between the bandits and the indigenous farmers where farmers can no longer go on their daily faming activities due to kidnapping by the herdsman. This study aimed at depicting the geographical locations of crime prone areas in Ibarapa North Local Government Areas of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted field survey methods which involved field surveying method. IKONOS satellite imagery was employed as a tool to depict the geographical location of crime prone areas. The field surveying method involved the use of Handheld GPS (Garmin 78s) for data ground truth and kidnapping crime hotspots in Igangan, Tapa and Ayete. The study was able to visited Eight (8) crime hotspots in Igangan, five (5) in Tapa community and none in Ayete as all crime areas are in the/along farmland, and due to security reasons, the study cannot further to all the locations. Further processing was done using ArcGIS 10.4 (Arcmap 10.4 version). The results from the study were presented in form of tables, map and map queries. However, proximity of police stations to the crime areas was done to determine how close/near of the crime hotspots to the nearest police station through buffer analysis. Therefore, the study recommends the establishment of more security agents by the government, community vigilante be established also and empower them and as well create more police stations in the study areas