Over 250 persons’ abducted, 149 killed in Nigeria in September

For the month of September, figures gathered from reported violent attacks showed that 280 persons’ were kidnapped across the six geopolitical zones of the country, and a total of 149 persons killed.

The figures, sourced from the reports of major news platforms and Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), shows that the north-west is top on the list with 143 abductees, 36 in the south-west; 34 in the north-central; 19 in the south-south and 4 in the south-east.

Analysis of the date also revealed that out of the 187 abducted in the north-west zone, 122 (representing 65.2%) of them were from Kaduna state.

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This showed a continuous rise in abductions in Kaduna when compared to August when the total number of abductions — 53 persons — in the zone were from Kaduna state.

Aside from Kaduna, Zamfara — another north-western state — had 52 persons abducted, while Katsina had 13.

For other states: Ondo, 32; Niger, 25; Rivers, 17; Plateau, 5; Imo, 4; Benue and Ekiti, 3 each; while Akwa Ibom, Delta, Kogi and Ogun had one each.

Out of the 149 killed, 122 were armless civilians, 15 police officers, 9 soldiers, a customs officer, a security guard and an officer of the Nigerian Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Further checks on the data revealed that 6 of the 15 police officers were murdered in Anambra, a south-eastern state with records of attacks on security operatives and their facilities. The data also includes a divisional crime officer (DCO) in Oyo and a police inspector killed by bandits in Katsina.

Out of the total recorded killings for the month in focus, the north-central zone tops the chart with 56 fatalities, north-west, 40; south-east; 25, south-south, 15; south-west, 7; and north-east 6.