At least 2,287 persons were reportedly killed in Nigeria in the third quarter of the year in violent incidents, including attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, militia herdsmen, bandits, abductions and gang clashes.
This is according to SBM Intelligence, a socioeconomic research firm, in its Media Reported Killings in Nigeria report for Q3 2021 (July to September 2021).
Civilians made up the highest number of people killed at 1153, followed by bandits at 675 and Boko Haram at 170. Law enforcement casualties include 105 soldiers, 67 police members and 2 immigration officers.
Highlights of the report
- 29 members of IPOB were reportedly killed during the period.
- Zamfara led with the highest reported killings with 495, followed by Niger State at 306, Borno at 285 and Kaduna at 259.
- The North West had the most reported killings at 961, followed by the North Central at 102, and the Northeast at 336.
- The Southern casualties were led by the South East at 137, the South South at 105, and 102 for the South West.
What you should know
Recall Nairametrics reported that at least 3,133 people were killed in Nigeria in the second quarter of the year in violent incidents, according to the last media reported killings report by SBM Intelligence.
Nigeria witnessed a total number of 5,814 casualties under media-reported killings, with the North East, North West and North Central accounting for most of the media reported killings, in the first half of the year.
The top 5 states with the most reported killings in the media were:
- Borno: 920 media reported killings, the state recorded 767 casualties in Q1 and 444, in Q2 2021.
- Zamfara: 765, the North West state of Zamfara has been a major location for school kidnappings in Nigeria and also operations of Banditry, the state recorded 304 media killings in Q1, and 461 in Q2 2021.
- Kaduna: 648, another state troubled by school kidnappings, and ethnic conflict which has displaced many farming communities in the southern part of the state due to attacks from herdsmen and bandits, the state recorded 473 media reported killings in Q1 2021 and 175 in Q2 2021.
- Benue: 504, another state plagued by issues related to banditry and attacks by herdsmen, the state recorded 31 media reported killings in Q1 2021, and 473 in Q2 2021.
- Niger: 458, the North Central state which shares boundary with Nigeria’s Federal Capital has witnessed a gradual rise in operations of non-state armed actors, which has seen media reported deaths rise from 182 in Q1 2021, to 276 in Q2 2021.
