Lagos “Area Boys”, Substance Usage and Potential Risk Factors

Abstract

The current study explores the rate at which members of Lagos' "area boys" engage in drug and alcohol use, and determines the predictive roles of parental and neighbourhood characteristics in the gang patterns of psychoactive substance misuse behaviour. The study approached gang members (N=129) aged from 18 to 38 years (M= 25.83, SD=4.82) through a snowballing (non probability) sampling method. Adopting a quantitative analytic technique, the results showed cannabis and alcohol as substance of choice with other improvised local drug concoctions being taken by some participants. The role of parental and neighbourhood characteristics as probable risk factors are described. The implications of the findings for rehabilitation service for the gang members are discussed.The term "area boys" loosely describes organised gangs of unemployed male youths who earn their living on the streets of Lagos, sometimes engaging in violent confrontation with innocent victims or amongst themselves. Lagos state, with a population of over nine million, is one of thirty-six states in Nigeria. The state is located in the south-western part of the country, and it was an administrative region of Nigeria until 1991, when the seat of federal government was relocated to Abuja. Its historical antecedents, as the former seat of government for Nigeria, its location as a coastal city and one of the first points of contact by Europeans means that the majority, Int J Ment Health Addiction (

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