Out of Nigeria's 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), about 527 recorded security breaches between January and August 21, 2022.
This is even as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and cultist attacks crippled socio-economic and religious activities in the affected areas.
The figure, which was contained in the Nigeria Security Incidents Tracker report, conducted by Beacon Consulting between January 1 and August 21, indicated that a total of 3,264 cases of security breaches were recorded within the period under review.
Given the series of attacks on unarmed Nigerians, there are fears that insecurity may likely jeopardise the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
In the report, Konduga, a local government area in Borno State, recorded 89 security incidents, leading to the deaths of 172 persons and the kidnapping of 43 persons.
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) witnessed a total of 126 incidents in the six area councils. It led to the deaths of 55 persons and 118 abductions. In Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) alone, 81 security breaches were recorded while 20 and 40 persons were killed and kidnapped respectively.
For Chikun LGA in Kaduna State, there were 46 breaches, with 180 deaths and 378 kidnapping incidents.
According to the data, a total of 22 LGAs in Kaduna accounted for 236 security breaches, in which at least 853 persons were killed and 1,200 were also kidnapped.
In Niger State, Dikwa had 37 incidents; Gwari, 32 incidents; Abeokuta-North, 29 incidents and Shiroro, 29 incidents.
Also, Warri North in Delta State recorded one incident.
Katsina State witnessed 111 incidents spread across 25 LGAs, resulting to the death of 369 persons while 260 were abducted.
Two incidents were recorded in Shagamu, while Ibadan had three incidents.
For Borno State, a total of 26 LGAs recorded security upheaval, with a total of 596 incidents. This led to the death of 1,942 persons and 288 kidnapped victims within the period under review.
Zamfara State experienced a total of 120 security beaches in 14 LGAs. 821 persons were killed and 359 kidnapped.
Similarly, residents of Plateau State witnessed 97 security breaches in 16 LGAs. 472 persons were killed while 145 were abducted.
In Lagos State, 159 incidents occured in 20 LGAs, leading to the death of 80 persons and 13 abductions.
However, a total of 98 incidents were recorded in 25 LGAs in Imo State, resulting to the death of 105 persons and 59 abductions.
In Abia State, there were 40 incidents in 14 LGAs. It led to the death of 89 persons and 84 abductions.
Reacting, a Security and Risk Management expert, Kabiru Adamu, said, “INEC has the Inter-Agency Committee on Election Security. Their work is to study the threat pattern and then put in place mitigation methods to ensure that no threat will affect the election. They should be studying statistics like this and put in place measures to deter those threats. I am hoping they will be more systematic and strategic in their approach.”
Another security expert, Timothy Avele, added, “These figures clearly indicate that there’s fire on the mountain and all hands must be on deck to avert the Somalia situation where there will be a total breakdown of law and order. There must be visible and deliberate urgent actions to curtail insecurity before security agencies and the military will be overwhelmed and turn to calamity before the 2023 general elections.”
BY PUNCH
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