As President Bola Tinubu marks his first year in office today, the country is grappling with a staggering toll of violence and insecurity. According to a report by Premium Times, at least 4,556 Nigerians have lost their lives, while 7,086 others have been kidnapped since he took office.
The local media fetched the data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). The numbers paint a grim picture of a nation struggling to contain escalating terrorism, banditry, and cultism.
According to the data, the Northwest region tops the list of violence-prone areas with 1,475 deaths and 4,343 abductions. Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states, the violence hotspots in Northwest Nigeria, accounted for 551 out of 718 incidents recorded in the region. In the Middlebelt, 552 incidents of banditry and farmers–herders conflict claimed at least 1,444 lives, including military and local security forces. About 1,321 abductions were recorded in the region.
Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, and other forms of violence in the Northeast resulted in at least 819 deaths and 688 abductions. These were recorded from 408 violent incidents in the region. Insecurity as a result of cultism, militancy and extra-judicial killings also claimed lives in the Southeast, Southwest and South-South flanks. Abductions were also recorded.
Confronting the security threats remains a paramount challenge for Tinubu’s administration. The presidency has continued to face intense criticism for its handling of the security crisis, even as the military has maintained an aggressive posture against the terror groups with a record of about 4,165 terrorist casualties.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
