At least 2,085 persons were reportedly killed in Nigeria in the 4th quarter of 2021 in violent incidents, including attacks from Boko Haram, militia herdsmen, abductions, gang clashes and terrorists.
This is according to SBM Intelligence, a socioeconomic research firm, in its Media Reported Killings in Nigeria report for Q4 2021 (October to December 2021).
This also means that Nigeria experienced a 47% increase in media reported killings, from 7063 fatalities in 2020 to 10,366 in 2021.
A breakdown of the Q4 numbers revealed that civilians made up nearly half of the reported violent killings at 972, followed by Boko Haram at 629, terrorists at 288.
40 policemen were reportedly killed in the same period, followed by 35 soldiers, while members of the proscribed secessionist IPOB group recorded 20 casualties.
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Borno State recorded the most casualties in Q4, at 618, followed by Kaduna at 355, Sokoto at 225 and Zamfara at 144. The highest-ranked southern Nigerian state for the quarter was Anambra state at 54 media reported deaths.
SBM warned that recent killings in Zamfara last month “puts the government’s effort at addressing insecurity in the region using force under severe scrutiny.”
Reports reveal that some victims were killed by fleeing terrorists escaping aerial bombardment by the air force as the army, trying to minimise personnel loss, has refrained from carrying out operations too deep into terrorist encampments, inadvertently giving them time to regroup after aerial bombardments.
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“Little progress has been made in attempts to coordinate the security agencies to achieve a shared strategic outcome. On another note, this non-coordination could also be due to a lack of discipline and professionalism exhibited by officers of various agencies”
“Furthermore, bandit activity appears to be spreading in parts of the country that hitherto were not dealing with such incidents. This is evident in abductions in Kwara, Plateau and Taraba. This is not surprising as it speaks to the proliferation of armed non-state actors across the country and how weak and overstretched the security architecture is,” the report stated.