Terrorists, bandits, and other criminals have killed 7,222 persons and kidnapped 3,823 individuals in the country between 1st January and 29 July 2022, according to data from the Nigeria Security Report.
Borno state, the stronghold of Boko Haram terrorists recorded the highest deaths of 163 people within the period under review, while Benue state, which appeared the most hounded state in the Middle Belt came second on the list with 90 fatalities. The third most unsafe state was Kaduna which had 82 deaths within the period specified, according to the report. Others that witnessed high deaths were Niger State with 65 deaths and Zamfara State with 42.
“Ondo state recorded the highest fatalities in the South West region as 55 persons were killed during the monitored period while Ebonyi state had 28 fatalities as the state with the highest deaths from the South East region,” the report disclosed.
The statement in the report said: “In June 2022, the government’s efforts significantly reduced the security incidents and fatalities but sadly, not the abductions, as compared with the figures for May 2022.
“In the sixth month of the year, we recorded 338 incidents that resulted in 651 abductions and 765 fatalities. These affected 185 Local Government Areas in 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
The report revealed that important interventions only reduced fatalities between May and June 2022, but did not positively have an impact on abductions as it showed:
“Incidents – in May (421) and in June (338) representing a 19.7% increase;
Fatalities – in May (913) and in June (765) representing a 16.2% increase, and
Abduction – in May (265) and in June (651) representing a 145.7% increase.”
The report also said: “A breakdown of these incidents shows that 28.6% occurred in the North East geopolitical region (219 fatalities), 23.5% occurred in the North Central geopolitical region (180 fatalities), 23.5% in North West (180 fatalities), South West 10.5% (fatalities 80), South East 9.2% (70 fatalities) and South-South 4.7% (36 fatalities). 75.6% of the fatalities for June 2022 affected the northern half of Nigeria.”
