of Ogun State (22.6%), Kwara State (14.2%), and Oyo State (14.1%), amongst other states. Most were between twelve and thirty-five years old. Asked whether they were "proud" to be area boys, 18% of respondents said yes, while 75% said no (7% did not respond). Tactics and targets A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2001 report on Nigeria described the impact of the gang members as such: The coercive and persuasive requests, petty crimes and sometimes violent offences by the so-called "area boys" to acquire resources, generally cash in the urban main business and crowded areas, have disturbed the civil society and defied the civic authority. Drug abuse among them has been variously reported as the cause of delinquent behaviour and crime. Extortion One of the methods Area Boys use for extortion is to surround pedestrians, drivers, and passengers in vehicles, which are stuck in traffic, and force them to pay for some actual or fictitious service before letting them go. To aid in collecting money during traffic jams, the area boys place nails in the road and dig up the streets. When the streets are flooded, however, they also aid motorists in avoiding ditches and pot holes amidst other services. According to Momoh, much of the extortion from Igbo merchants by area boys is instigated by Lagos landlords, indigenous inhabitants of the city. Illegal drug sale Among the area boys are both sellers and users of illegal drugs. This drug use has been linked as the cause of further crime. A study states "most of them use drugs (cocaine, heroin, marijuana, etc.) either as occasional users or addicts, or as peddlers." Of 77 respondents to a survey, 12.2% dealt drugs, while 60.3% were addicts themselves. Sale of drugs takes place both in Nigeria and abroad, and sales abroad have earned a small percentage of the sellers significant amounts of money. Groups of area boys have been known to raid rival, Igbo drug sellers based in Central Lagos. Notable incidents involving area boys During the Hausa-Yoruba riots in Lagos in 2000, where thousands of Hausa fled to military barracks and nearly 100 people died, area boys took advantage of the chaos and joined in the mayhem, throwing glass and bottles at shops. At the Mile 12 Market (also in Lagos), soldiers were reported to work hand in hand with gang members as late as 2004. However, in May 2005, after a