In the month of May, communities across the nation were confronted with profound sorrow as the grim toll of violence and insecurity surged to staggering levels. Recent reports indicate that an alarming 675 innocent lives were tragically cut short, while the despairing wave of crime resulted in the abduction of 168 individuals.
This is according to the 2023 Nigeria Security Report by an Abuja-based security outfit, Beacon Intel.
According to the report, obtained by our correspondent on Thursday, the killings occured in 31 states and the Federal Capital Territory while abductions took place in 18 states.
The report stated that 185 Nigerians were killed via ambush; 173 killed by crossfire; 173 died during raids while 99 Nigerians were killed by unknown factors.
It also revealed that 34 persons were killed in individual attacks, while 11 Nigerians died in detention.
A breakdown of the recorded fatalities showed that 38.7 per cent occurred in the North Central (261 fatalities); 23.9 per cent in the North-East (161 fatalities); 15.6 per cent in theNorth-West (105 fatalities); 7.1 per cent in the South-West (fatalities 48); 5.2 per cent in the South-East (fatalities 35); and 9.6 per cent in the South-South (65 fatalities).
The document revealed that the top three states with the highest fatalities were Plateau with 126 fatalities; Borno with 123; and Benue with 51 fatalities.
Furthermore, the report revealed that in May 68 cases of abduction took place in North-West; 20 in the South-South, six in the South-West and five in the South-East.
The Chief Executive Officer, Beacon Intel, and a security expert, Kabir Adamu, advised that “For government efforts to decrease the ability of non-state actors to challenge the supremacy of the use of force by the state to be sustainable, the Federal and State Governments need to strengthen collaboration for enhanced administration of criminal justice and the restoration of social order by addressing the root causes of these challenges including socio-economic grievances, unemployment and the effects of climate change, as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
“The Federal and State Governments need to collaborate in dominating the forested and other ungoverned spaces, which the bandits use as safe havens and to keep their victims.”
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