Article Details

This study examines traditional mechanisms for curbing crime in Ilorin. This historic Yoruba city later became an Islamic emirate, with a focus on how these indigenous practices were transformed under the influence of Islam. Using qualitative methods and data from oral interviews and documentary sources, the paper highlights various pre-colonial strategies, including ritual appeasements, occultic interventions, oath-taking, banishments, communal surveillance, and the promotion of moral upbringing through home training and societal values. These approaches were deeply embedded in communal Trust, social cohesion, and collective responsibility. With the advent of Islam and the Dogari institution, policing in Ilorin took on a new structure anchored in Sharia law and Islamic moral order, shifting from voluntary communal practices to centralized authority under the Emirate system. The findings reveal both continuity and change: while some indigenous practices persisted, Islam redefined the framework of policing, justice, and crime prevention. The study concludes that although Islamic and later colonial influences modernized certain aspects of policing, they also weakened the communal ethos that had underpinned traditional crime control, thereby contributing to challenges in maintaining social order.

Ilorin, crime prevention, traditional policing, Islam, Dogari institution, Sharia law, Yoruba culture, communal justice,