DATA collated by The ICIR have shown that between January and October 2023, 7,046 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria.
The ICIR gathered the data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a data bureau that collects real-time data on the locations, dates, actors, fatalities, and types of all reported political violence and protest events worldwide.
When broken down, this means that an average of 24 persons were killed daily within the month under review.
Insecurity has been a perennial challenge in Nigeria, ranging from attacks by bandits and secessionist groups to attacks by insurgent groups like Boko Haram/Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), and clashes between herdsmen and villagers, among others.
The ACLED documents that 15 people were killed in protests within ten months. Also, 133 people died in several riot attacks between January and October.
According to the data, the states with the highest killings within the ten months are Zamfara (672 deaths), Niger (544 deaths), Benue (454 deaths) and Plateau (362 deaths).
The states with the lowest reported cases of death are Ekiti, Gombe, and Jigawa, with five, three, and two deaths, respectively.
The data means that living in Jigawa state within the first ten months of 2023 is safer than any other state in Nigeria.
When broken down by geopolitical zone, states in the North-Central reported 1,589 deaths, the North-East reported 2,691 deaths, and the North-West region had 1,767 deaths.
For the Sothern region, the South-East recorded 450 deaths, the South-South recorded 333 deaths, and the Sout-West lost 216 people to attacks.
In September, the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, said, during the Nigerian Army civil-military cooperation media chat for the third quarter of 2023, that the Nigerian Army would curb the security challenges currently facing the country.
The CoAS stated that the “Nigerian Army will continue to train and equip its forces to carry out kinetic operations in compliance with the approved rules of engagement and code of conduct for various theatres, within and outside the country.
“In this regard, the Nigerian Army under my leadership has emplaced robust strategies across all lines of operations to ensure that the security challenges in the country are resolved favourably within the shortest possible time.”
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale