Abstract

Jungle justice has added another dimension to the neigbourhood insecurity challenge in Lagos metropolis. The reoccurring lynching of suspect(s) in a crime scene, in Lagos metropolis and Nigeria, as well as, the dearth of empirical studies on this heinous crime in Nigeria motivated this study. Thus, this study anchored on Social Disorganisation Theory (SDT) of the Chicago School of Criminology, which identified neighborhood crime and delinquency, emphasizing spatial patterns of behaviours. In-depth interview was employed to uncover the factors, patterns of occurrence, and the security implication of Jungle justice in Lagos metropolis. Purposive sampling technique was utilised to get a sample size of thirty respondents for this study. Content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed data and results showed that jungle justice happens as a result of incessant neighbourhood crimes and insecurities with lack of public and institutional trust in the Nigeria Police Force in the prosecution of a crime suspect. To avert jungle justice in Lagos metropolis, there must be a concerted effort by the public and the Nigeria Police Force to preempt the future occurrence of such crime.

Key words: Jungle justice, crime, insecurity, Lagos.