Gunmen attacked 527 LGs, thousands killed, kidnapped – Report

Not less than 527 local government areas, out of the total 774 local government councils, have recorded serious security breaches between January to August 21, 2022. A shocking total of 3,264 cases of security breaches were recorded in the affected local governments.

The figure was contained in a Nigerian security firm, Beacon Consulting between January 1 and August 21. This is as there are concerns that insecurity being witnessed in many parts of the country could serve as a threat to the forthcoming general elections.

The security breaches, according to the report, included terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and cultist attacks. The data showed that Konduga, a local government area in Borno State, recorded 89 security incidents, leading to the deaths of 172 persons and the kidnapping of 43 persons.

For the Abuja Municipal Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory, 81 security breaches have been witnessed to date with 20 killed and 40 kidnapped. In addition, security has been breached 46 times in Chikun Local Government Area in Kaduna State, with 180 deaths recorded and 378 kidnapped.

Others are Dikwa with 37 incidents; Gwari recorded 32 incidents; Abeokuta-North recorded 29; Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State witnessed 29 incidents. Kaita in Katsina State and Warri North in Delta State recorded one incident each.

Two incidents were recorded in Shagamu, while Ibadan North East recorded three incidents, to mention a few. According to the data, a total of 22 local government areas in Kaduna accounted for 236 security breaches in which at least 853 persons were killed and 1,200 were kidnapped.

For Borno State, a total of 26 local government areas recorded security upheaval with a total of 596 incidents. This led to the death of 1,942 persons and 288 kidnapped within the period under review. Katsina witnessed 111 incidents spread across 25 local governments, leading to the death of 369 persons while 260 persons have been kidnapped.

Zamfara State has experienced a total of 120 total security incidents in 14 LGA. 821 persons have been killed and 359 kidnapped. Also, Plateau State has experienced security breaches in 16 LGAs 97 times. 472 persons were killed with 145 kidnapped.

The Federal Capital Territory has a total of 126 incidents in the six area councils. This led to the deaths of 55 persons and 118 abductions. In Lagos State, 159 incidents were recorded in 20 LGAs, leading to the death of 80 persons and 13 abductions.

A total of 98 incidents were recorded in Imo State in 25 LGAs, which resulted in the death of 105 persons and 59 abductions, and Abia State, 40 incidents were reported in 14 LGAs. 89 deaths and 84 abductions were recorded.

Commenting on the data, a security and risk management expert, Kabiru Adamu, said, “INEC has the Inter-Agency Committee on Election Security. Their work is to study the threat pattern and then put in place mitigation methods to ensure that there’s no threat that can affect the election. They should be studying statistics like this and putting in place measures to deter those threats. I am hoping they will be more systematic and strategic in their approach.”