At Least 30 People Were Killed Everyday In 9 Months

Between January to September, at least 30 people were killed in Nigeria, an analysis by Twentyten Daily has shown.

The data was gathered from reports of media killings put together by SBM Intelligence within nine months– three quarters of the year.

The data gathered from the deaths of civilians, insurgent criminals as well as security operatives killed within the period.

The country had a total of 8168 deaths in nine months.

The breakdown of people killed includes Civilians, Bandits, Boko Haram members, Police officers, Vigilante groups, IPOB members, Soldiers,  Armed Robbers, Immigration officers etc.

Within this period, Nigeria recorded 2779 deaths in the first quarter, 3133 deaths in the second quarter and 2256 deaths in the third quarter.

The geopolitical zone with the highest deaths recorded are: Northwest with 2812 deaths, Northeast with 1927 deaths and Northcentral with 1839 deaths.

Also, the zones with the lower records are Southwest with 454 deaths, Southsouth with 537 deaths and Southeast with 712 deaths.

Insecurity in Nigeria

Nigeria, since the beginning of the year, had suffered several attacks from bandits, kidnappers, unknown gunmen, Boko Haram insurgents and ethical clashes–Indeginous People of Biafra and Herdsmen attacks.

These recurrent attacks have displaced several families, children from homes, communities and  schools.

While the Nigerian security operatives are putting efforts to clamp, the data showed that at least 4234 civilians were killed during the period.

In July, Twentyten Daily reported how over 170 students have been kidnapped from different schools in Kaduna states. 

TwentyTen Daily also reported how the growing insecurity challenges was a threat to education in Nigeria as well as agricultural growth in the country. 

Analysis on data

A total of 6,578 people were reportedly killed in the Northern region while 1,703 people were killed in the southern region.

This implies that for every 6 persons that were killed in the southern region, at least 20 people were killed in the Northern region.

When comparing the lowest geopolitical zone with the highest; it implies that, within the period, for every 2 persons that died in the Southwest, at least 10 persons were killed in the Northwest.

With a total of over 8000 deaths recorded in nine months of 2021, it implies that more people have died of insecurity challenges and threats than the global COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

Within 19 months of COVID-19 in Nigeria, approximately 2770 cases  have been reported dead from the virus. 

States with most reported deaths

For the first quarter, Borno led the chart with 767 deaths. It was followed by Kaduna, Zamfara, Nigeria and Ebonyi with 473, 304,182 and 139 deaths respectively. During this period, the states with the lowest occurrences are Gombe, Jigawa, Adamawa and Kano with 1, 2,2 and 4 deaths respectively.

Between April and June, the most affected states are Benue, Zamfara, Borno, Niger and Kaduna with 473, 461, 444, 276 and 175 deaths. The states with the lowest are Jigawa, Ekiti, Abia and Kogi with 1, 8, 8 and 11 deaths.

In the third quarter, the states with the most affected are Zamfara, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Plateau with 495, 306, 285, 259 and 138 deaths. The states with the least most affected are Gombe, Bauchi, Abia and Yobe with 2,2, 2 and 3 deaths.

Tackling insecurity challenges 

During the October 1st- Independence Day speech, the president, Muhammadu Buhari, said, "​Nigeria is for all of us. Its unity is not negotiable. And its ultimate success can only be achieved if we all come together with a common goal of having peace and prosperity for our nation."

He added that, "We shall continue to work on dialogue based solutions to address legitimate grievances. But we remain ready to take decisive actions against secessionist agitators and their sponsors who threaten our national security.

"The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals. We are vigorously pursuing these financiers including one identified as a serving member of the national assembly.

"This is a clear example of how people abandon their national leadership positions for their selfish gains. Instead of preaching unity, they are funding and misleading our youth to conduct criminal acts that sometimes lead to unfortunate and unnecessary loss of lives and property.

"As the so-called leaders run abroad to hide, our innocent youths are misled and left in the streets to fight for their senseless and destructive causes.​ Government will continue, with greater level of peoples’ participation and in collaboration with our international partners, to improve the security architecture, reduce enabling environment for criminality to thrive and eliminate opportunities for terrorism financing."