- CSO demands justice for victims, tasks governments on security
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
An organisation that tracks violent attacks in Nigeria, Global Rights Nigeria, has disclosed that no fewer than 545 Nigerians were killed in several violent attacks in April, 2023 alone.
In the same month, a report issued by the group also indicated that 269 citizens were abducted in some parts of the nation.
In another report by the organisation released to mark this year’s National Day of Mourning and Remembrance for All Victims of Violent Killings Across Nigeria, it was discovered that between 2019 and 2022, at least, 20,431 people were violently killed, while over 12,000 were abducted across the country.
The organisation said it resorted to the mourning activity, tagged NDOM, because protests no longer seemedto impact the conscience of Nigerian political elites.
Based on violent incidents reported in the national dailies for the month of April, 2023, the organisation said its report showed that 545 persons were killed and 269 were abducted in over 2,000 attacks across Nigeria.
Of the casualty figures, 524 civilians were said to have been killed in addition to 13 policemen, four military men and four immigration officers.
The organisation noted further that extra judicial killings in the month of April were three, including 12 cult clashes, 12 isolated attacks, 14 Boko Haram/Iswap attacks, 244 banditry-related attacks, eight secessionists attacks, 17 politically motivated violence, two mob attacks, 24 communal clashes and 2,091 herdsmen attacks.
Meanwhile, according to the group’s second report, over the past four years, 20,431 people were violently killed and over 12,000 abducted across Nigeria.
The report showed that in 2019, 3,188 Nigerians were violently killed while 117 were kidnapped. In 2020, 4556 were murdered in attacks while 2002 persons were abducted. The casualties arising from the atrocities rose to 6,895 in 2021 and 5,663 citizens abducted. There was a slight reduction in year 2022 as 5,792 innocent Nigerians were killed while 5,162 others were kidnapped.
“Disturbingly, more than half of these brutal killings and abduction have been attributed to a faceless group of terrorists known as Bandits, operating majorly in North-Western part of the country, and who appear to have cunningly outwitted Nigerian security forces.
“This group recently attacked the Mangu/Bokkos Federal constituency of Plateau State, murdering over 100 people and destroying properties worth millions. As we remember the lives lost in these heinous attacks in our MAS2023, we demand accountability and justice for the victims and also punishment for the perpetrators because one life lost is too many,” the report, obtained by The Point, read in part.
Speaking further, the Coordinator of the National Day of Mourning in Osun State, Michael Ebofin, said NDOM was an initiative of Global Rights Nigeria to express solidarity, and demand accountability for the security and welfare of all Nigerians, adding that “it is also a symbolic action capable of registering citizens’ dissatisfaction with the state of our national security, since protests no longer seem to impact the conscience of those in government.”
Ebofin, who hinted that Global Rights Nigeria collaborated with a Civil Society Organisation, Mowalek Centre for Sustainable Community Development, appealed for prompt reportage of atrocities, justice for victims and adequate punishment for perpetrators.
“We are making this appeal at a time when virtually all states of our country have been beset by violent killings with impunity. Some other objectives of this National Day of Mourning are to stir the conscience of our political class into developing the political will to protect our commonwealth through accountable governance; express solidarity with grieving communities across the country as we acknowledge and accord dignity to every single Nigerian life that has been lost, or disrupted, due to violent crises.
“Others are to rekindle our sense of nationhood by reminding ourselves that we are in this together, and that the office of the citizen is the most powerful office that can be occupied in this country; assert, as citizens, an end in our docility to no longer condone the narratives that seek to divide us,” he added.
