Reports have shown that casualties resulting from violent attacks due to insecurity in Nigeria claimed the lives of at least 731 innocent citizens in June, this year, alone.
This is alarming, more so when compared with 356 killed in the previous month, particularly in northern Nigeria.
A breakdown of the report released by NigeriaMourns, a Civil Society Organisation, on Thursday revealed that 309 deaths were attributed to banditry attacks, terrorist attacks accounted for 215 deaths, while the number of those killed by Boko Haram took an alarming turn, compared to 27 deaths the previous month.
Insecurity and killings continued to worsen despite claims by Nigeria’s security agencies of successfully routing organised criminal groups, killing over 166 terrorists in June.
This number of killings in a single month is also higher than the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country.
Whilst juxtaposing the violent killings in 2019 and the trajectory of killings in 2020, the report disclosed that in 2019, Nigeria lost 3,188 lives to mass violence, and in just the first half of 2020, the country has lost at least 2,503 persons.
The analysis depicts the spike of mass killings in the first half of the year (2020) and warned of an exponential rise in the second half of the year if the killings remain unabated.
Nigeriamourns noted that particularly devastating was Boko Haram’s attack on Gubio, Borno state, which led to 81 deaths. It took less than two hours for the attacking gunmen to kill more people than Covid-19 reportedly had in the past 3 months throughout the state.
It buttressed its points with the fact that as at the time of documentation, thirty-four (34) deaths had been attributed to Covid-19 in Borno.
The report noted that a little over 590 lives have been lost to Covid-19 since its first recorded case in Nigeria in March, but said at least, 731 lives were lost to insecurity in June alone, in spite of the number of years and resources annually deployed to security in Nigeria.
It warned that Nigeria is in an existential battle for its own soul and the factors that continue to contend against it have recently been further complicated by the Covid pandemic.
The report further observed that the onslaught against security forces also continued unabated. For instance, it stated, in a viral video, Boko Haram terrorists executed a soldier identified as Corporal Emmanuel Oscar, and a policeman, Inspector Yohanah Kilu.While they are tasked with the protection of lives and property, their own lives matter too and are deserving of protection. The continued trend in which security officers are ill equipped to ward off insurgent attacks remains unacceptable and in need of citizens demanding accountability.
Other violent incidents within this period included, communal clashes, extrajudicial killings, and rival cult clashes.
The report noted that these numbers and incidences of organized mass killings in June underscores the frailty of security in Nigeria and foreshadows the vulnerability of Nigerians and the widespread terrorism nationwide.
The report posited that the critical question therefore is how best can Nigerians hold government accountable to fulfilling its constitutional obligations to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians from insecurity and the virus – both of which are inimical to the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria?
Meanwhile,
Salisu Maku, the kidnapped son of Mr. Usman Maku, who was kidnapped in Gudi, was found dead on Wednesday, amid the funeral of his sister, Sahadatu, who was shot dead by kidnappers on Tuesday.
With Salisu’s wife still in captivity, the bandits demanded N20 million.
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani had invaded the home of the elder brother to Labaran Maku in Gudi, the hometown of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, and killed his daughter.
They also abducted his eldest son, Salisu, and the wife, Asamawu.
A resident of Gudi, Mr. Kaura Danladi, told reporters that over 10 gunmen invaded the town at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, shooting sporadically and headed for Maku’s residence, some 200 metres away from the governor’s.
Danladi said that Maku’s daughter, who graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, was shot through the window by the bandits and she died while being rushed to the hospital by family members.
After the daughter was buried at the family compound, there was pandemonium yesterday when news came that the lifeless body of Salisu had been found few metres away from the house.
According to Jonah Yakubu, the kidnappers are demanding N20 million before the release of Salisu’s wife.
Meanwhile, Governor Sule has convened a state-wide security meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Lafia.
In his opening speech, the governor emphasised his administration’s determination to ensure peace and security of lives and property in the state.
Sule, however, told Fulani chiefs to tame the criminal activities of their people, warning that his administration would not tolerate any form of criminality by any group or persons.
Tha Nasarawa governor urged traditional and religious leaders to uphold ethnic and religious tolerance in the interest of peace and appealed to participants at the meeting chaired by the Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage, to come up with workable solutions to insecurity in the state.
Last week, over 30 passengers were kidnapped by gunmen along Mararaba Udege/Loko highway and nothing has been heard about them since then.
