Interogating the Influence of Poverty on Insecurity in Nigeria
Adebukola Foluke Osunyikanmi

Abstract
Poverty is an economic and social menace in Sub-Sahara Africa, Nigeria inclusive. It is a condition that affects all aspects of the life of its victims. Those who are poor are prone to diverse problems, which range from condition of helplessness, lack of basic necessities of life, voicelessness in decision making, ill health, lack of access to education, etc. Many Nigerians are in this situation of abject poverty. Majority of the people in Nigeria live below the poverty line and cannot afford the basic needs of life that make life worth living. Thus, in the bid to make ends meet, they engage in nefarious activities that constitute problems not only to the few rich but even to the large army of Nigerians. Some of the social ills linked to the prevalence of poverty include: armed robbery, terrorism, militancy, kidnapping, ritual killing, pipeline vandalism, political thuggery, etc. has thus become the harbinger of insecurity in Nigeria all of which have been associated with weak and inefficient government.Using secondary data, this paper attempt to build a nexus between the severity of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria.

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