Data from Beacon Consulting Ltd, a leading enterprise security risk management and intelligence firm, show that the Northern geopolitical region recorded 90.8% (1,188) of the total 1,308 deaths caused by Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) and other security-triggered events in November 2023.
The Northeast recorded 63.83% (835 deaths) within the four and half weeks of the month, the firm stated.
The report released in December was a detailed analysis of security-related incidents and developments across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory Abuja in November 2023.
It revealed that 835 deaths occurred in the Northeast while the Northwest and Northcentral regions recorded 177 deaths (13.53%,) and 176 (13.45%) respectively.
However, the banditry-ravaged Northwest recorded more abductions than other regions with 233 against 153 and 57 in Northeast and Northcentral.
In all three Southern regions, 120 fatalities equivalent to 9.17% with a breakdown indicating that Southwest recorded 3.89% of the total fatalities (51), South-South 2.67% (35), and Southeast with 2.59% (34).
The report has an alarming 16.06% increase in total fatalities across 264 local government areas in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
It showed that November was the month with the highest fatalities among the 11 months starting from January 2023.
The data show a 22.88% decrease (721 incidents) in overall security incidents compared to October 2023 (935). However, abductions experienced a 10.42% decrease, totalling 464 cases.
The report by the security firm showed that the fatalities were caused by different factors including raid, ambush, crossfire and individual attack.
Speaking on the report, the managing director of Beacon Consulting Limited, Dr. Kabir Adamu commended President Bola Tinubu for institutionalising provisions of Executive Order 13, which he said entrenches performance measurement and consequence management in the government.
WikkiData: Northern States Budgeted Over N200 Billion for Govt Houses in 2023
He expressed optimism that the intelligence community, led by the Office of the National Security Adviser, would be included in the process for effective results.
Clarifying on surge in fatalities particularly in the Northeast, Dr Adamu told WikkiTimes that it was a result of the intense threat environment, comprised of the restiveness of insurgent activity in the region.
He explained that the split between ISWAP and Boko Haram has prompted violent competition between both groups who seek to retain strongholds and grow their ‘dwindling manpower’.
Dr Adamu said the armed reconnaissance undertaken by the Nigerian Airforce and associated ground raids undertaken by the army to curtail the excesses of the terror groups in the Northeastern States has also contributed to the high fatalities. “Nonetheless, civilians are also impacted in Borno (terrorism) and Taraba (agrarian conflict),” he added.
While in the Northwest, the Managing Director of the security firm said there has been a significant dismantling of the growing insurgency tied to the banditry in the region.
He, however, said the organized crime remains rife in Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara States which were mostly tied to abductions, community raids and the illegal imposition of levies on farmland.
WikkiTimes reports that from 2021 to 2024, the Nigerian Ministry of Defence got a budgetary allocation of N5.11 trillion to curtail the lingering insecurity across the nation.
In the 2021 budget, the ministry did not account for N966.4 billion. While N772.3 billion was allocated to personnel costs, overhead and capital costs garnered N66.2 billion and N127.8 billion respectively.
In 2022, N912.5 billion was budgeted for personnel costs, N83.5 billion for overhead and N204.6 was for capital costs, accumulatively totalling N1.2 billion.
Similarly, N1.25 trillion was allocated to the ministry in the 2023 budget, where N1 billion was given to the personnel, N97.1 billion and N285.04 were earmarked for the overhead cost and capital cost respectively, hence, totalling N1.38 trillion for the ministry.
WikkiTimes reports that in December, police officers deployed to the Northeast under the Joined Task Force (JTF) lamented over the non-payment of their allowances in the last six months.
The lingering insecurity especially in the northern states, questions the huge amount of funds expended amid the killings, kidnappings coupled with sectarian crises.
Thousands of civilians have been killed, injured or displaced by the armed conflict between the armed groups Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) and the Nigerian military in northeastern Nigeria in the last decade.
