NO FEWER THAN 119 persons were killed by bandits in the last 10 days across the northern part of Nigeria.
According to the figures obtained by The ICIR from the Nigeria Security Tracker, the killings took place between December 11 and 21, 2021.
Nigeria Security Tracker is a project of the American Council on Foreign Relations to track insecurity. It collects data from verifiable newspaper reports.
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On December 11, 2021, gunmen killed two and kidnapped seven in Sabon Birni, Sokoto. On the same day, five were abducted in Chikun, Kaduna.
The next day, bandits killed 10 and kidnapped two in Wase, Plateau, while in Bali, Taraba State, three persons were abducted.
Bandits killed two and kidnapped 30 in Zaria, Kaduna State, on December 13, while on December 15, they killed one and kidnapped eight in Zaria, Kaduna.
The following day, bandits killed four in Chikun Local Government Area, four in Zangon Kataf LGA, and one in Zaria LGA in Kaduna.
On December 21, about 45 farmers were killed and two abducted by herdsmen in Nasarawa State.
In the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna, 40 people were killed on December 20.
On the same day, Boko Haram killed 10 persons and abducted dozens in Borno.
These killings continue amid repeated claims by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that it has reduced the spate of insecurity in the country.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed disapproval and frustration over the killings in the North.
In a statement on Monday, the group’s Secretary Emmanuel Yawe accused the president and the northern governors of insensitivity to the plight of harmless Nigerians being killed daily in the region.
While briefing journalists shortly after he met with the president on Tuesday, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai lamented the inability of the Nigerian military to take the war to the bandits’ location because of the collateral damage it could cause the civilian community.
He said if the security forces could not go to the bandits’ location, the state would be helpless.
However, he called for more deployment of security forces and a comprehensive operation in areas affected by bandits in the state.
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