At least 356 Nigerians were reported killed in 27 states of the country in the month of May 2020 alone, a new report said.
NigeriaMourns, a Non-governmental Organisation that released “Violence Incidents Report: May 2020” on Wednesday documented daily deaths and violence happening across the country amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, Sokoto, Kaduna and Adamawa were the states with the highest number of killings, totalling 181 deaths.
The report also indicated that 212 deaths were attributed to banditry attacks, while communal conflicts accounted for 80 deaths, 27 were attributed to Boko Haram/ISWAP, 10 to cult clash, herdsmen attack took 10, eight were due to extrajudicial killings while five were killings related to isolated attacks and four to mob action.
NigeriaMourns described the continuous crisis in Southern Kaduna which led to a larged scale death of people and destructions as a source of concern.
In the report, four civilians’ deaths were also attributed to Nigerian soldiers while enforcing the lockdown orders in Karim Lamido, Taraba State.
“At Owode, Yewa South Local Government of Ogun state, 15-year-old Riliwan Bello died from an “accidental bullet discharge” fired by men of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command. The incident occurred barely a month after unnamed agents of the NCS reportedly killed another 15-year-old girl, Sekinat Agbelade at Agosasa, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State,” the report said.
“Rinji Peter Bala, a 20-year-old student of the University of Jos, was first arrested by vigilantes alongside six others for violating the lockdown order. Shortly after they were released, officers of the Nigerian Army “accidentally” shot and killed Rinji.
“An unidentified inmate was reported dead from a shot fired by a prison guard, at the Nigeria Correction Service, Aba. The incident occurred when some old inmates had tried, but failed to escape from the prison.
“16-year-old Tina Ezekwe was shot and killed by a policeman at a bus stop near her home in Lagos State. Provoked by this tragic incident and the endless extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, Nigerians led a protest with the hashtag #JusticeforTina,” the report read.
The report further revealed that 10 security agents were killed during violent attacks in the same month.
According to the report, Killing of security officers in Nigeria has continued at an alarming rate.
“A police officer attached to Bomadi Divisional Police Station was shot dead by an army officer attached to 222 battalions in Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North L.G.A Delta State.
“Five Nigerian soldiers were also killed in an attack on a military outpost by ISWAP terrorists in Mainok, Borno State, in addition to the two earlier reported killed by Boko Haram at Gujba local government area of Yobe.”
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