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Aim: To determine the prevalent rates of Escherichia coli O157: H7 and non-O157 strains in of isolates from meat, human stool and abattoir waste water, collected from selected sources in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Study Design: Case-controlled study. Place and Duration of Study: Selected places in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, between November, 2020 to November, 2021. Methodology: Three hundred and forty -nine (349) samples were analyzed, 80 meat and 63 waste waters from five abattoirs cited in the city, 46 meat samples from five selected sites sold by roadside butchers, 109 patient stool samples and 30 stool samples from food sellers, in addition to 20 stool samples from healthy subjects and 1 commercial bottled water which served as control samples. Tryptone soya broth (TSB) as an enrichment media, selective agar media namely; Eosin methylene blue agar, cefixime tellurite-sorbitol MacConkey agar (CT-SMAC), Chromagar STEC were used to isolate STEC from the samples and serology done with O157 latex agglutinating kit to confirm E. coli O157:H7 serogroup. Results: The results showed that Isolation rates obtained for E. coli O157:H7 and non O157 respectively were: abattoir meat 11(13.8%);13(16.3%), roadside meat 5(10.9%); 10(21.7%), clinical stool 7(6.4%); 27(24.7%), food sellers’ stool 4(13.3%);6(20%), waste abattoir water 2(3%); 14(22.2%). Food sellers and abattoir effluents were found to be potential sources of STEC dissemination in Port Harcourt. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using chi- square which showed that there was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in the rate of isolation of E. coli O157: H7 and non- O157 strain from the samples. Conclusion: The detection of E.coli O157:H7 and non-O157 strains in raw meat (food), environment and clinical samples in Port Harcourt may give rise to a potential widespread public health hazard if strict adherence to proper hygiene management are not place to regulate food processing in other to reduce contamination and foodborne infections.

When Boko Haram insurgents attacked the United Nations Headquarters in Abuja on August 26, 2009, Nigerians’ reactions were similar to U.S. reactions to al-Qaida’s September 11, 2001 attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon. The aftermaths of these terrorist incidents caused the governments of both countries to devote enormous resources to their counterterrorism policies and efforts. This study aims to explore how social orientations and environment influence individuals’ views, attitudes, and perceptions on terrorism. Using a convenience sampling technique, 274 Nigerian and 484 U.S students were surveyed. Results showed some degree of convergence and divergence. First, Nigerian participants were more likely to express stronger views on the problem of terrorism for society than their U.S. counterparts. Second, Nigerian participants were also more likely to view terrorism as more politically motivated than their U.S. counterparts. Third, nationality was highly significant in predicting views, attitudes, and perceptions. It appears culture plays a role in helping shape views on terrorism.

Organizational commitment is an imperative aspect of occupational attitudes as it signals employees’ willingness to stay with their organization and effectively achieve collective goals. Although recent studies have assessed factors influencing police officers’ organizational commitment, very little is known about the antecedents of police commitment in African countries. Based on a survey of Nigerian police officers, the study assesses the linkage between organizational justice and organizational commitment directly and indirectly through organizational trust and job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicates that the relationship between organizational justice and organizational commitment is principally indirect through the mediating mechanisms of supervisory trustworthiness and job satisfaction. Officers who express greater organizational justice report higher trust in their management and supervisors and, subsequently, stronger job satisfaction, leading to higher organizational commitment. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

PurposeThis study aims to assess the direct relationships between internal support and job satisfaction and voluntary assistance and their indirect connections through work–family conflict among Nigerian police officers.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from police officers in a midsized state police command in Ebonyi state in Nigeria. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the connections between supervisor support, peer support, work–family conflict, job satisfaction and voluntary assistance.FindingsPolice officers with stronger supervisor and co-worker support are more inclined to express higher job satisfaction, whereas such support is not linked to officers' willingness to help fellow officers. Work–family conflict mediates the relationship between co-worker support and voluntary assistance. Stronger peer support is accompanied by higher work–family conflict, which then is linked to greater helping behavior.Originality/valueDespite many studies on police job satisfaction, research on correlates of job satisfaction in an African context remains severely under-investigated. This study represents one of the first attempts to assess police proactive helping behavior and job satisfaction in Nigeria.

Kidnappers’ modus operandi (MO) is defined as consisting of a summary of strategies used by kidnappers both to get close to the victims and then do the crime. Utilizing a naturalistic methodological approach, we interviewed 86 kidnappers in two prisons. Insight into the MO of systematic kidnapping is gained, discussed, and is briefly compared with earlier work on the systematic MO of armed robbers, both similar but somehow distinct high-profile and common crimes in contemporary Nigeria. Common types of kidnappers’ MO are presented, showing their point of convergence with that of armed robbery. These are “trick-mild,” “surprise-violence,” “blitz-terror,” “bold-con-confidence,” or a combination of any two of these MOs, and they are predicated on rational choice, convenience, and social learning theories. It is suggested that a number of considerations, adaptations, and manipulation-intrigues intertwines at some point in time and place to influence decision-making process regarding the choice of an MO. Understanding the MOs of kidnappers will assist both potential victims and law enforcement officers, relationship with the offenders, and increase public safety.

Assumptions and debates on the trend, causes or motives, implications, and appropriate sanctions on kidnapping dominate literature, are largely speculative, and come mainly from the media or academ...

Assumptions and debates on the causes/motives and, by implication, theories of kidnapping in Nigeria for ransom, are legions, and largely speculative, however. This paper engages in a rigorous analytical review of the factors, patterns and processes of kidnapping, and several related theories, to construct an integrated/alliance model of kidnapping in Nigeria. Kidnappers' social constructions and interpretative meanings show that the factors and processes that enable kidnapping to occur are, though, basically economic and space-based, they vary, occurs in chains-spaces in a coordinated, interdependent and interconnected manner. The policy implication suggests (1) that several factors coalesce and intervene at different stages to explain kidnapping (2) future research on kidnapping and meaning construction consider the kidnappers' perspective and those of the other actors and the media (3) a multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary (Epi-criminology) approach to tackle the several different theories/causes animating young Nigerians to engage in the criminal enterprise of kidnapping is a welcome development.

Fraud/cheat in the buying and selling of commodities is part and parcel of modern businesses worldwide, and a common phenomenon in Nigeria. Personal purchases of meats using a measurement scale and others without measurement scale were made in Abakiliki and Calabar meat markets. Empirically, holding the quality of meats constant, a paired t-test analytical tool shows significant difference in the weight of meats bought and sold by non-measurement scale and those with measurement scale. Theoretically, perspectives from rational choice, fraud triangle, economic, social learning/contagious, anomie theories and political economy are drawn on to suggest an integrated multiple reinforcing-social-forces theory of fraud in the sale of meats. Results confirm that consumers receive less value for their money when they purchase meats without metrology. Cheat is conceived as a product of individual, structural variables and process that interact at different levels to produce negative consequences. An EpiCrim...

The study seeks to investigate library and social media use as predictors of national integration among distance learning students in Benin Study Center, Nigeria, using four research questions and ...

This article argues that armed robbers in contemporary Nigeria have characteristic methods of approach (MA) and modus operandi (MO), which are systemic and near methodological. It further states that the choice of a specific MA and the accompanying MO is often based on a deliberate calculation of rational options, with the intention of committing an efficient, successful robbery. The researcher acknowledges that sometimes this deliberate decision-making process is affected by unforeseen factors, which compel robbers to make irrational decisions that can jeopardise the robbery’s chances of success. The present study analyses some of the important MA and MO adopted by armed robbers in contemporary Nigeria, which show elements of both rationality and irrationality. A cross-sectional self-reporting design was used in the study, whereby armed robbers were interviewed and allowed to talk freely about the MA–MO they employed. Samples were collected using a non-random, convenience (chain-referral) technique, from three prisons in the South Eastern States of Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with victims and eyewitness accounts were obtained in order to corroborate or reject the researchers’ assumptions. Finally, a content analysis of data from three newspapers and Tell magazine was carried out. The data analysis revealed that both the MA and the MO of Nigerian armed robbers are complex, and range from orthodox to unorthodox. Factors including robbers’ individual experiences, the type of robbery and other extraneous factors are significant in influencing the choice to use one or another MA or MO in a robbery. It is the researchers’ belief that thoroughly understanding armed robbers’ decision-making processes is a key way of combatting the threat of armed robbery and, by extension, other acts of violence, such as terrorism, in Nigeria.