According to data from the Nigeria Security Report published by Beacon Consulting, a security risk management and intelligence consulting firm, terrorists, bandits, and other assailants killed 7,222 people and kidnapped 3,823 between January 1 and July 29, 2022.
Borno state, a Northeastern state and the stronghold of Boko Haram terrorists, had the most fatalities (163) during the period under review, while Benue state, which appeared to be the most hounded state in the Middle Belt, came in second with 90.
According to the report, Kaduna was the third most dangerous state, with 82 deaths during the specified time period.
Niger, with 65 deaths, and Zamfara, with 42, were also among the countries with a high death toll.
“Ondo state had the highest number of fatalities in the South West region, with 55 people killed during the monitored period,” according to the report. “Ebonyi state had the highest number of fatalities in the South East region, with 28 people killed.”
According to the report, “in June 2022, the government’s efforts significantly reduced security incidents and fatalities, but not abductions, compared to May 2022 figures.”
“As a result, we recorded 338 incidents in the sixth month of the year, resulting in 651 abductions and 765 fatalities.” These affected 185 LGAs in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.”
According to the report, drastic interventions only reduced fatalities between May and June 2022, but did not have a positive impact on abductions: “incidents – May (421) and June (338) representing a 19.7 percent decrease; fatalities – May (913) and June (765) representing a 16.2 percent decrease; and abduction – May (265) and June (651) representing a 145.7 percent increase.”
“A breakdown of these incidents shows that 28.6 percent occurred in the North East geopolitical region (219 fatalities), 23.5 percent occurred in the North Central geopolitical region (180 fatalities), 23.5 percent in the North West (180 fatalities), 10.5 percent in the South West (80 fatalities), 9.2 percent in the South East (70 fatalities), and 4.7 percent in the South-South” (36 fatalities). The northern half of Nigeria was responsible for 75.6 percent of the fatalities in June 2022.
“A thematic analysis identifies the following main incident typologies as being responsible for 350 fatalities: raids by non-state actors, primarily targeting rural communities; combat/crossfire – 183 fatalities; and ambush – 79 fatalities.”
