INSECURITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFIMO STATE, NIGERIA (2019 – 2024)

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between insecurity and socio-economic development of Imo State between 2019 and 2024. The specific objectives of the study were to; analyze the effect of armed robbery on trade and commerce, assess the effect of kidnapping on the accessibility and quality of education; investigate the effect of Herders-farmers clashes on agricultural productivity; and to ascertain the effect of cultism on night clubs and hotel activities in Imo State between 2019 and 2024. The study was anchored on the Human Security Theory popularized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 1994 Human Development Report. The study utilized descriptive survey research design.
Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources with the questionnaire serving as the major primary instrument for data collection. The data obtained from primary sources were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. Descriptive statistics, including tables, simple percentages, and mean, were employed to summarize and present the data. For hypotheses testing, inferential statistical techniques, specifically the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) technique was employed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that; armed robbery has significantly undermined trade and commerce in Imo State; kidnapping has greatly hindered the
accessibility and quality of education in Imo State; Herders-farmers clashes has significantly undermined agricultural productivity in Imo State and that cultism has greatly constrained night clubs and hotel activities in Imo State between 2019 and 2024. The study concluded that various forms of insecurity such as armed robbery, kidnapping, herders-farmers clashes, and cultism have significantly impeded the economic, educational, agricultural, and hospitality sectors of Imo State and that without addressing the root causes of insecurity, sustainable development in Imo State will remain elusive. Among other recommendations, the study suggests that the government of Imo State, in collaboration with security agencies, should establish and maintain robust community policing frameworks and deploy surveillance technologies in major commercial zones to effectively combat armed robbery and enhance trade and commerce.