SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRECARITY AND THE ESCALATION OF PREDATORY URBAN CRIMES IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA: THE IMBROGLIO

This study investigates the causal relationship between socio-economic precarity and the escalation of predatory urban crime in South-Eastern Nigeria from 2020 to 2025. The region has witnessed a violent transition characterized by kidnapping for ransom and transit robberies, threatening institutional stability. The primary objectives were to evaluate the levels of economic hardship in Anambra, Enugu, and Imo States, investigate the patterns of predatory aggression, and determine the statistical correlation between the regional Misery Index and crime frequency. Anchored on the Frustration Aggression Theory, the research posits that systemic goal-blocking through hyper-inflation and unemployment triggers a displaced aggressive drive. A mixed methods research design was adopted, utilizing longitudinal data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), and Nigerian Police Force (NPF), complemented by primary data from twenty respondents selected via accidental sampling. Findings reveal a near-perfect positive correlation between economic precarity and crime spikes, with Chi-Square results indicating that the surge in predation is statistically significant. It concludes that the current security crisis is an economic pathology resulting from institutional failure. The study recommends the adoption of an Institutional Buffering Model and administrative de frustration strategies to mitigate the economic triggers of urban crime.