The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said at least 464,000 people across the world were killed in homicides in 2017.
Mr Sylvester Atere, Communications Officer, UNODC Nigeria, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
According to him, the number of people killed in homicides had surpassed by far the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts in the same period.
He said that aforementioned figures wer contained in the Global Study on Homicide 2019 published on July 8 by UNODC.
Atere quoted Yury Fedotov, UNODC Executive Director, as saying: “the Global Study on Homicide seeks to shed light on gender-related killings, lethal gang violence and other challenges, also to support prevention and interventions to bring down homicide rates.
“Countries have committed to targets under the Sustainable Development Goals in order to reduce all forms of violence and related death rates by 2030.
“This report offers important examples of effective community-based interventions that have helped to bring about improvements in areas afflicted by violence, gangs and organised crime.
“The study shows that the overall number of people who suffered a violent death as a result of homicide increased in the past quarter of a century, from 395,542 in 1992 to 464,000 in 2017.
“However, because the global population has risen faster than the increase in recorded homicide victims, the overall risk of being killed in homicides has declined steadily.”
He added that the study revealed that the global homicide rate, measured as the victims of homicide per 100,000 people, declined from 7.2 in 1992, to 6.1 in 2017.
Organised crime, he said, was responsible for 19 per cent of all homicides in 2017, adding that since the beginning of the 21st century, organised crime had killed more people than armed conflicts across the world combined.
The study pointed out that just like armed conflicts, organised crime destabilised countries, undermined socioeconomic development, and eroded the rule of law.
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“Homicide rates vary widely between and within regions, the 2017 average global homicide rate (6.1) masks dramatic differences across regions.
“With 13 victims of homicide per 100,000 inhabitants, Africa’s homicide rate is well above the global average and second to the rate of 17.2 in the Americas.
“Whereas the rates in Asia, Europe and Oceania were below the global average they have 2.3, 3.0 and 2.8 respectively,” he said.
The study showed that in Nigeria, official statistics were hard to come by, adding that in 2014 the World Health Organisation reported the homicide rate in Nigeria at 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.
It said that the data provided by the Nigeria Police Force indicates that there were 2,712 and 2,861 homicides in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
The noted that the Federal Ministry of Justice explained that the data were incomplete; since not all states of the federation appear to maintain statistics or report on a regular and reliable basis.
“A report published recently by the National Bureau of Statistics put the number of “murders” in 2017 at 3,219.
“An alternative source is provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) who estimated in 2014 that 17,059 victims of homicide were recorded,” Are added.
In 2017, the National Bureau of Statistics published prison statistics indicating that from 2013 to 2016 an average of 8,264 per year, were imprisoned for allegedly committing homicide.
It disclosed that in a bid to find out more about homicides in Nigeria, UNODC, in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria, in 2016 conducted a survey covering more than 33,000 households across all 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria.
UNODC stated that results of the survey provided strong evidence that the level of lethal violence in Nigeria could be significantly higher than reported to the authorities or estimated based on public health data.
The body stated that on the basis of the survey sample, the annual homicide rate of Nigeria in the period of 2013 to 2016 was estimated at 34 per 100,000 population, corresponding to about 64,000 victims of intentional homicide annually with significant variations across the six geopolitical zones.
“The total homicide rate was estimated to be the highest in the North-East: 79 per 100,000 population and North-Central: 65 per 100.000.
“With an estimated 4.4 victims of homicide per 100,000 inhabitants, the homicide rate is lowest in the South-West. Most homicide victims are men, but women more often killed by family and intimate partners globally”.
It stated that about 81 per cent of homicide victims recorded in 2017 were men and boys, adding that more than 90 per cent of suspects in homicide cases were men, according to the most recent estimates.
The study shows that the gender disparity among victims changes with age; girls and boys aged nine and under are killed at roughly equal rates, in marked contrast to all other age groups, in which males make up more than 50 per cent of the victims according to data from 41 countries.
“In all regions, the likelihood of boys becoming victims of homicide increases with age, although this process occurs at different stages.
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“Men and male adolescents aged between 15 and 29 are at the highest risk of homicide globally, women and girls are more likely to become victims of homicide in Africa, predominantly at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member”.
UNODC stated that to tackle the drivers of homicide, targeted and efficient interventions to counter homicide require a comprehensive understanding of its scale and drivers.
It disclosed that the drivers of homicide highlighted in the study include inequality, unemployment, political instability, the prevalence of gender stereotypes in society, and the presence of organised crime.
The study also pointed out the importance of a governance model centred on the rule of law, control of corruption, and investment in socio-economic development, including in education, as critical in bringing down the rate of violent crime.
It stated that firearms, drugs and alcohol are further facilitators of homicide that need to be addressed, according to the study.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Global Study on Homicide is available online: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/global-study-on-homicide.html. (NAN)
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