WHEN LIVES BECOME STATISTICS
All the critical stakeholders should do more to stem the rising tide of criminality
No fewer than 3,868 persons were killed in different states of Nigeria between January and June 2021, according to the mid-year report by Global Rights, an international human rights organisation. The Washington DC, United States-based group which tracks daily incidents of mass atrocities also put the number of persons abducted in Nigeria within the timeframe at 3,016, an 80 per cent increase compared to 615 incidents recorded within the same period in 2020. It is a report that should worry the authorities.
The report reveals that banditry accounted for 2,423 cases (62.64 per cent) of violent killing nationwide, Boko Haram 388 (10.03 per cent); herdsmen attacks, 289 (7.47 per cent), isolated attacks, 272 (7.03 per cent), cult clashes, 213 (5.5 per cent), communal clashes, 180 (4.65 per cent), extrajudicial killings (106 (2.74 per cent). In January 2021, according to the report, 373 persons were killed across the country; 685 in February; 545 in March; 724 in April; 778 in May, and 763 in June. In terms of abduction, the report revealed an unprecedented increase in the number of kidnapped victims, which steadily surged from 615 in the first six months of 2020 to 3,016 incidents within the same timeframe in 2021.
The unprecedented increase in violent attacks is defying the sustained narrative among analysts that the northwest is relatively more peaceful compared to the northeast. From Kaduna to Katsina and Zamfara, none of the seven states within the zone is immune to the orgy of bloodletting. But the incessant attacks on local communities and kidnapping of people by criminal groups suggest a more sinister incursion of terrorists. The zone is increasingly becoming a haven for active terrorist groups, including the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and rogue West African herdsmen once rated the fourth-deadliest terror group in the world.
The growing feeling of helplessness by Nigerians compounds the challenge. If gunmen can cynically invade police detention centre, kill policemen and raze their stations, it is very telling of the capacity they have mustered. Indeed, the ability of terror-minded gangs to thumb their noses at authority each time the security forces attempt to make claims and boastful noises must be seen as a measure of their strength vis-a-vis the government’s weakness. Some of the identified causes of these problems include arms and weapon trafficking, poor governance, poverty and climate change, overburdened security apparatus and diminishing government presence in some areas. Policies to address these recurring challenges include improved law enforcement among the people, collaboration with Nigeria’s immediate neighbours like Chad, Niger, etc., to fight terrorism and banditry, and strategic investments in human and infrastructural development.
With the arrival of some Super Tucano fighter jets that are now available to the Air Force in the Northeast and Northwest zones, we expect changes in the battle against the sundry criminal cartels who trouble the peace of our country. We hope the military authorities will step up action in making Nigeria safe again. There is an urgent need to put a stop to loss of innocent lives that defines this season. We therefore reiterate that security agencies need to step up their acts and strengthen not only inter-agency coordination to checkmate the current descent into anarchy but also the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the Police and State Security Service (SSS).
As we have also repeatedly pointed out, it is important for all the critical stakeholders in the country to look beyond politics at a time like this and render whatever assistance they can in the bid to put an end to the current carnage, which clearly puts all at risk.
