Insecurity: Only 2 States Spared As Nigeria Records 620 Deaths In A Month

In the past month, 620 people have been killed in 34 states across Nigeria as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a result of political violence and other cases of insecurity.

This was according to an analysis of data from the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST) between October 20 and November 20, 2020.

Out of this number, 293 were civilians, 64 were security operatives, two were political actors, and one, 20-year-old Pelumi Onifade, was a journalist. Other casualties included 128 Boko Haram members, 124 armed persons, eight robbers, two sectarian actors (2), and a kidnapper.

The highest death tolls were recorded in Borno (163), Katsina (72), Lagos (68), and Kaduna (64). They were followed by Zamfara (34), Edo (26), Cross River (18), Delta (15), Plateau (14), Yobe (12), among others.

Only two states were without fatal incidents: Bauchi and Gombe.

Some of the deaths recorded, especially in Lagos, were as a result of the extrajudicial killing of protesters by military personnel and the activities of hoodlums. Amnesty International had reported that at least 10 peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza were killed by officials of the Nigerian Army.

On Tuesday, October 20, bandits attacked Tungar Kwana, a village in Zamfara State’s Talata-Mafara Local Government Area, and killed 22 people, including women and children.

“The villagers told the security agents useful information about some bandits who rustled cows last week and the information had assisted greatly in locating and killing many of them,” said police spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu. “Since that time, the bandits were targeting the villagers in order to avenge the killing of their people.”

In another incident in Katsina, on October 29, bandits reportedly massacred 30 people, including security personnel and vigilantes, in Diskiru, a community in the Dandume Local Government Area. They also set houses ablaze.

The attack was suggested to have been a reprisal, in reaction to the killing of some of their members.

“They went and regrouped and came back with over 200 of them on motorbikes, each carrying AK-47 rifle; they even went with a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG),” the police command stated.

About a week later, members of Boko Haram invaded Takulashi, a village in Borno’s Chibok Local Government Area, killing 11 people, including local hunters and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). The insurgents also abducted nine female residents.

In Kaduna, 12 people were killed by bandits in separate attacks on communities in the Igabi Local Government Area. Eight students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, were also abducted along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Sunday, November 15.

According to the NST, in the same period between October and November, 224 people were kidnapped across 18 states.

The highest number of abductions took place in Katsina (38), Nasarawa (30), Kaduna (27), Zamfara (23), and Edo (23). Following closely were Ondo with 29 cases, Niger (14), Borno (9), Benue (5), Cross River (5), and Delta (5).

In October, over 10 people were kidnapped during one attack of Dan Kurma, a community in Zamfara. Around the same period, 17 people were kidnapped during a Friday prayer session in a Nasarawa mosque.