“Onyabo", Madanwo, and "Amotekun": Urban People’s Interpretation of Community Policing and Internal Security Management in Lagos State.

Abstract

Cult killings, urban violence, and political unrest have become some of the major trademarks of Lagos, a rapidly growing West African megacity with an estimated population of over 20 million. At least if anything has changed in the management of public safety and security of Lagos, we have seen incremental deployment of the police to Lagos and additional support to the Nigeria Police Force. However, the crime problem persists in some of the dark spots of the state. For instance, between 2016 and 2017, a deadly cult group, Badoo, killed and injured people in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, spreading the fear that ritualists had invaded the city of Lagos. This study investigates young people's interpretation of community policing in Lagos and the symbolic use of "Madanwo" and "Onyaabo" in deterring criminals. The study adopts the General Deterrence Theory and Symbolic Interactionism to drive home the issue. Using the qualitative method of social research covering Lagos Island, Mushin, Ikorodu, Oworoshoki, and Eti-Osa to sample a total of 30 participants for the In-depth and Key Informant Interviews, the study found that it is really not the use of the names that scared criminals and offenders of the law but the determination to get criminals punished for the offences. In Oworoshoki, the study found that people have come to believe in the "Madanwo Community Police" because they have helped cleanse the community of cultism and cult killing that made the community unsafe in the past. In the Ikorodu area of Lagos, community leaders held that the use of the names provided additional impetus to what the government is capable of doing when culprits or offenders of the law are apprehended. In the Eti-Osa area of Lagos, people believe that the crime rate has drastically reduced now that community vigilantes are involved in the security of the community, compared to when members of the Nigerian Police Force were solely involved in the management of the internal security of the community. Though the code names are increasingly accepted across Lagos, some people feared that the corruption, lack of sincerity, and public trust that incapacitated the Nigeria Police Force in combating crime may turn out to hinder the growth and sustainability of the existing community policing security networks in Lagos State.