Community Perception of The Use of Law Enforcement Agents in Controlling Conflicts in Rural Rivers State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study investigated community perception of the use of law enforcement agents in controlling conflicts in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State, Nigeria. Structured interview schedule was used to elicit information from two hundred and eighteen (218) respondents. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select eighteen (18) communities from the six political blocks in the LGA. Data were presented with descriptive statistics. Findings from the study revealed that cult rivalry, national election, youth leadership, intercommunity, and land claims/boundary dispute conflicts were the types of conflicts in the study area. Perception of the respondents on the reason why LEAs were used to control conflicts were: the response of LEAs in controlling conflict is more prompt than any other method, the use of LEA is a cheaper tool for oil companies and government to exploit, and community leaders do not have what it takes to control community conflicts. LEAs protect the right and dignity of people in the area and they safeguard lives and properties in the area were the effects of the use of LEAs. It is therefore recommended that employers of LEAs should create check and balance between the communities and the LEAs.The papers published in the journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
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