At least 31 people were reported dead as three sustained various degrees of injuries and 31 others kidnapped in violent conflicts that rocked the country within the last one week.
A weekly report by Nextier Violent Conflict Database, an Africa-focused multicompetency public sector advisory firm, showed that between August 13-19, eight incidents of violent conflicts were recorded, resulting in the death of 31 Nigerians. Eight other nationals were injured and 31 others kidnapped.
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Despite indicating decline in conflict-related incidents since the beginning of 2023, the report projects high deaths and kidnappings. Although, there was 19.2 per cent decrease in casualties and a 3.3 per cent increase in kidnapping compared
to the previous week.
Niger State was placed first with the highest casualties, where 32 security personnel died from bandits ambush at Kundu, a village along Zungeru-Tegina highway in Wushishi Local Government Area.
Also, Enugu State recorded violent incidents with two cases involving civilians and yet-to-be-identified armed men, while Katsina State came next with the most kidnap cases. In one incident alone, 19 victims were whisked away by brazen bandits.
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The weekly report showed that banditry and gunmen attacks made headlines for the week. While banditry accounted for 33 casualties (25 deaths and seven injured victims), the number of kidnapped victims stood at 26 from three incidents.
According to the organisation’s database, in three gunmen-related violence, two people died while five others were kidnapped.
However, communal clashes and farmers-herders conflicts came second, with one incident each, where four deaths were reported for communal clashes, and two deaths and an injury for farmers-herders conflicts.
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The weekly report also showed that South-East was the most volatile region within the period under review. The region recorded three incidents that resulted in five deaths and five kidnap cases.
Projecting the report based on regions, North Central takes the lead with 35 casualties (involving deaths and injuries), North West followed with 26 kidnapping incidents, South East has five records of deaths and kidnapping incidents while one person was reported dead in South South.
A closer look at the records state-wise shows that Niger has the highest deaths records of 32 persons, followed by Enugu with 5 incidents, Plateau has 3 cases while Zamfara and Bayelsa states had one cases respectively.
