The drama over claims that 2.2 million Nigerians were kidnapped, 614,937 others killed, while ransom totalling over N2.23 trillion was paid out within a year appears to have landed the chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in trouble.
There are reports that Mr. Semiu Adeniran may have been picked by one of the nation’s security agencies.
Report of his alleged arrest comes as former Vice President and Peoples Democratic (PDP) candidate in last year’s presidential election, Atiku Abubakar stressed the need for fidelity of data, and statistics for development purposes, while raising doubts over claims NBS Website was hacked, as claimed by the Bureau.
His words: “The unprecedented claim that the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has been hacked is an unpleasant development that adds up to the bad tidings that have characterised the President Bola Tinubu administration.
“The development, which is coming on the heels of the recent data published on the website of the NBS on Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS), underscores the credibility crisis of the current administration.
“These are strange times in Nigeria, and it is hoped that the situation at hand is not an underhand attempt to pigeonhole the integrity of data majorly used for planning and development and research purposes.
“Subjecting data and statistics such as those harvested, analysed, and released by the NBS to sexing up or political considerations is counterproductive.
“That is why the claim that the website of the National Bureau of Statistics was hacked into, the very first time in its history, should be of concern to the fidelity of the stats it releases to the public.
“Moreover, the coincidence of this so-called hack coming only shortly after the release of damning stats on security is suspicious.
“We may be tempted to assume that every stats released by the Bureau is an outcome of a hack!”
An online newspaper, News Point Nigeria quoted a senior official of the NBS as saying, “As we speak, the CEO is still in … custody, the operatives invaded our headquarters, took away our computers and the crime survey documents and also arrested Mr Adeniran on Wednesday”, the source claimed.
“The CEO added about N2bn to our 2024 budget for the new Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report, and we got government approval for the funds but after the conclusion of the report, which took about seven months, instead of liaising with the security agencies and the supervisory finance minister, Atiku Bagudu, the CEO went on to publish the report independently.
“We were told the president and the minister were not happy with the report because the survey was deemed to have embarrassed the government and the security agencies, especially in their fight against insecurity in the country.
“After the publication of the report, a meeting (was summoned) with the finance minister and some top security officials in the country and afterwards there was an instruction to shut down the website and then (they) raided our office and arrested Mr Adeniran”, the source added.
Everyday.ng reported Wednesday that hours after it posted a chilling report on its website on the murder of over 600, 000 Nigerians, 2.2 million kidnap incidents, while a whopping N2.23 trillion was paid out as ransom NBS racanted, claiming its website was hacked.
“This is to inform the public that the NBS Website has been hacked and we are working to recover it. Please disregard any message or report posted until the website is fully restored. Thank you,” a post by NBS on X reads.
Doubts arose over the report which trended for hours and was picked by media outlets, amid suspicions that the report of a hack might be a face-saver over a bungled report.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported earlier in the day that NBS said that kidnapping incidence in the country is estimated at 2,235,954 between May 2023 and April 2024.
The NBS revealed this in its Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024 released in Abuja on Tuesday.
The CESPS is a household-based survey, which provides an in-depth understanding of the situation of crime in Nigeria, with a target population comprising household members 15 years and older.
The NBS said the survey was carried out to produce estimates at national and zonal levels covering both urban and rural areas for a twelve-month reference period (May 2023 to April 2024).
The report said that among households that experienced kidnapping incidents, 65.0 per cent paid a ransom.
It said the average amount paid as ransom for kidnapping was N2.7 million per incident with an estimated total ransom of N2.2 trillion paid within the reference period.
“The North-West reported the highest ransom paid with N1.2 trillion, while the South-East was the least with N85.4 billion.”
The report showed that rural areas recorded more kidnappings with The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) says kidnapping incidence in the country is estimated at 2,235,954 between May 2023 and April 2024.
The NBS revealed this in its Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024 released in Abuja on Tuesday.
The report showed that rural areas recorded more kidnappings with 1,668,104 reported cases than urban areas with 567,850.
Analysis by zones revealed that the North-West recorded the highest number of cases with 1,420,307, followed by the North-Central with 317,837, while the least was recorded in the South-East with 110,432.
It showed that nationally, an estimated 51,887,032 crime incidences were experienced by households in Nigeria.
It said the North-West reported the highest incidence of household crime, totalling 14,402,254, followed by the North-Central with 8,771,400,
“The South-East reported the least incidence of household crime with 6,176,031.”
The report revealed that crime incidence in rural areas was higher, totalling 26,526,069, compared to urban areas at 25,360,963.
The NBS said in Nigeria, 4,142,174 households experienced home robbery incidence.
Analysis by zones showed that the North-West had the highest home robbery cases totalling 1,068,430, followed by the South-South with 811,231, while the least was recorded in the South-West with 378,252 cases.
The report said that less than half of the households, at 36.3 per cent, who were victims of home robbery reported to the police.
According to this study, the most common reasons for not reporting crimes include lack of confidence in law enforcement and the belief that police intervention would not result in meaningful action.
The findings showed that about 24 per cent of households would rather report to other authorities instead of the police, followed by those who believed the police would not do anything upon reporting at 22.7 per cent.
“Only 0.2 per cent mentioned lack of insurance of properties as a reason for not reporting to the police.”
The report also showed that there was a slightly higher report of household robbery among rural dwellers at 37.8 per cent, than urban dwellers at 35.2 per cent.
The NBS said at the individual level, 21.4 per cent of Nigerians reported being victims of crime, and the most common crime was phone theft at 13.8 per cent
It said about 90 per cent of the victims of phone thefts reported to the police, and only 50 per cent of the victims expressed satisfaction with police responses.
The report said nationwide, an estimated 1.4 million experienced sexual offences, which occurred mostly in someone else’s home at 27.7 per cent.
“This was followed by the victim’s home at 22.2 per cent.”
It said sexual offences were less likely to occur at a public transport station at 0.9 per cent and only 22.7 per cent of victims reported to the police.
According to the report, public perception on safety showed that 9.6 per cent of Nigerians believed they might be a victim of crime in the next 12 months.
“In rural areas, 13.0 per cent of the population believed they could be victims of crime and 7.0 per cent in urban areas.”
The report revealed that security agencies’ average response time to emergencies was a key indicator of effective crime prevention.
“Nationally, 33.1 per cent reported that the average response time to an emergency call by security agencies is less than 30 minutes.
“About four out of 10 households had at least one interaction with state or local security forces within the reference period.
“Also, one out of two households had contact with the Nigerian Police, and 25.7 per cent reported the incidence of crime to the police after experiencing a crime.
The report showed that satisfaction with police responses was notably low, particularly for crimes including livestock theft at 42.9 per cent and crop theft at 42.4 per cent.
It said in rural areas, many households relied on local vigilante groups.
