A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVELS OF PROPERTY THEFT DURING AND POST FLOOD DISASTER PERIODS IN YENAGOA METROPOLITAN CITY OF BAYELSA STATE

From a comparative point of view, the study examined the levels of property theft during flood disaster and post flood disaster periods in Yenagoa metropolis of Bayelsa state. Built on the Routine Activity Theory (RAT), it adopted the survey research design, employing the multi-stage sampling technique. The data obtained from two hundred and fifty (250) residents of the study area were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that there is a relatively high level of property theft during flood disaster periods in Yenagoa metropolis. Interesting, the level of property theft reduces drastically during the post-flood disaster periods, becoming very low. Furthermore, the study discovered that there is a generally poor security condition in flood affected areas in Yenagoa metropolis, indicating that there is urgent need for government at all levels to heighten security measures in flood ravaged areas so as to curtail the incidents of property theft in such places with the aiming reducing the economic implications of flood disaster.