Influence of Codeine and Toluene Abuse on Criminal Behaviour among Youths in Minna Metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

Criminal behaviour has increased in recent years in Nigeria. Violent crimes have graduated from the common petty offences to sophisticated crimes of mass killings, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery to bombing activities across the landscape. This study investigated the influence of Codeine and Toluene abuse on criminal behaviour among youths in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. Two Local Government Areas were purposively selected while accidental sampling technique was used to select 249 youths (154 males, 95 females) with age ranges from 15-35 years to respond to two adapted questionnaires: The Alcohol Abuse Disorders Identification Tests (AUDIT) and Comprehensive Misconduct Inventory (CMI) 58 (Update F). Data collected were screened, coded and analysed using SPSS Version 23. Descriptive statistic and t-test of independent sample means were used to summarize the data where the value of p<.05 was considered significant. The results indicated that prevalence of Toluene abuse among youths in Minna was 33.7% and Codeine 20.5%. The results further showed a significant difference in criminal behaviour between youths who abused Toluene and those who did not abuse Toluene [t (199)= -4.991, p <.05]. However, there was no significant difference in the level of criminal behaviour between youths who abused Codeine and those who did not abuse Codeine [t (199) = -.159, p >.05]. The study concluded that Toluene and Codeine abuse among youths tend to be progressively high in the study population. The study recommended that more attention should be given toward the possession, sale and abuse of Codeine and Toluene among youths by both law enforcement agencies and health institutions in Niger State and Nigeria