182 Nigerians, Including 42 Soldiers, Lose Lives To Insecurity In A Week

Data from the Nigeria Security Tracker shows that 182 Nigerians were killed between Monday, July 6, and Friday, July 10, as a result of insecurity across the country. 

This is more than double the death toll from the previous week during which 89 people were reportedly killed.

Forty-two (42) soldiers lost their lives within the five-day period, the highest in recent time, and 49 civilians were killed. Also killed were 17 members of the Boko Haram terror group, four sectarian actors, one political actor, and 69 other armed people. 

At least 38 soldiers were killed on Tuesday during an ambush of the Maiduguri-Damboa highway by Boko Haram members. The Defence Headquarters, however, claimed the next day that while 17 insurgents were killed during the attack, only two soldiers “paid the supreme price while four others were wounded in action”.

A security source informed AFP that 30 other soldiers could not be accounted for and it was not certain whether they were alive.

“It was a surprise attack. The terrorists hid inside heaps of foliage they gathered along the road and opened fire on the convoy as it passed. It was a close-range ambush,” the source said.

The highest casualties were recorded in Katsina where 62 people died, followed by Borno (55), Kaduna (20), Zamfara (20), and Benue (9). Two people each died in Abia, Benue, Edo, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Sokoto, and one person each lost their lives in Imo, Kebbi, Oyo, and Rivers states.

While they were farming, 15 civilians were killed on Monday, July 6, by bandits who attacked Ruma, located in Katsina’s Batsari Local Government Area.

“We were deliberating with security personnel and other stakeholders at the council headquarters when the gunmen attacked, the soldiers promptly responded and rushed to the area, unfortunately, the bandits fled into the forest,” the district head, Tukur Mu’azu, told journalists.

During the period, Nasarawa State recorded the highest number of kidnap victims (10), followed by the Federal Capital Territory (9), Adamawa (2), Ondo (2), and Abia (1).

Ten residents of Umaisha, Toto Local Government Area in Nasarawa, were kidnapped on Wednesday and two others killed by gunmen. Eight of the kidnapees are children of a retired director of the Area Council Service Commission, Attahiru Abdullahi Pandagi.