Police-public engagement and case management on the X platform in Nigeria

Purpose Police-public engagement on the X platform is gaining momentum in Nigeria as both parties leverage social media to communicate and exchange information. However, despite the growing rate of police-public engagement on X, there is a paucity of scholarly information on the nature of such engagements and the outcomes of cases reported to the police via the platform. Thus, this study aims to examine police-public engagement and case management on the X platform in Nigeria through the lens of the theory of reasoned action. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional descriptive design was employed, and data was sourced from 300 female and male youths active on X using a semi-structured questionnaire principally administered through the Google Form online tool. Findings Results showed that crime reporting and police accountability were the two major areas of policing dominant in police-public engagement on X. Most of the respondents (82%) preferred X as a medium for engaging the police because of the perceived numerous advantages it offers. Although the majority of the respondents (56.4%) claimed to be generally satisfied with the police handling of cases reported via X, the adequacy of the platform for police-public engagement was perceived as being hampered by police selective and delayed responses to issues. Originality/value This study is original as it expands the frontiers of knowledge to a subject matter which hitherto had been a neglected area of scholarly enquiry in Nigeria.