TRAGEDY: 214 Nigerians Killed In 3 Months, 746 Abducted In Kaduna

The Kaduna State government says attacks by bandits and terrorists, communal clashes, violent attacks, and reprisals between January and March this year have claimed 214 lives.

Samuel Aruwan, the state Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, while presenting the Annual Security Report for 2023 on Wednesday in Kaduna also explained that in the same period, 89 bandits were also killed during engagements with ground forces, military, and police across the state.

While presenting the first quarter of 2023 security report to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, at the Government House, Kaduna, Aruwan also noted that following fratricidal clashes within bandits, five bandits died bringing the number of bandits’ deaths to 94 and scores killed in air strikes.

The report showed that Kaduna central senatorial district recorded the highest number of casualty with 115 deaths followed by Kaduna South and Kaduna North senatorial districts with 61 and 38 deaths respectively.

The report also indicated that of the 746 people kidnapped, Kaduna central senatorial district accounted for 492 victims followed by Kaduna south senatorial district with 221 while 33 people were abducted in Kaduna north senatorial district.

Receiving the report, El-Rufai said, the state government did its best to prevent the sad incidents “through institutional measures and pragmatic actions.”

He appealed for intense security operations over the remaining 39 days of the current administration and beyond to ensure that, “the change of baton at the federal level does not result in a dangerous lull that criminal outlaws can exploit.”

According to him, “These measures include persistent pressures on the federal government to launch comprehensive and sustained military operations against the terrorists and criminal elements that are menacing our people and their lives, liberty and livelihoods.

“There is every reason to intensify and sustain simultaneous ground and air kinetic actions across the seven frontline states of the Northwest region and Niger which have continuous and contiguous forest ranges and are most heavily impacted by this security challenge.”

The governor, who promised that the state government would continue to do everything within the powers of a state to ensure security, added: “We have invested considerable resources and energy in managing security to the extent that the Constitution of our nation permits a subnational.

“Our interventions since 2015 include supporting the federal security agencies deployed in our state with vehicles and other logistics, collaborating with other frontline states to fund military operations in the 2015-2016 period and investments in security infrastructure and technology.

“The lessons learnt in the 2016-2019 period informed our decision to establish the first sub-national Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs at the beginning of our second-term in 2019.

“The mandate of the Ministry is to manage the state government’s relationship with the federal security agencies deployed in the state and to coordinate their activities towards securing our people in an atmosphere of unprecedented challenges,” El-Rufai said.

He commended security agencies for constant collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs in securing the state.

El- Rufai also commended traditional and community leaders “for being the leading and influential anchors of peaceful coexistence and intelligence-gathering in our various urban and rural communities,” saying, “The security reports presented today are the last set I would be receiving as governor of Kaduna State.

“We would be passing the baton to Senator Uba Sani in 39 days. I have no doubt that he would continue the engagements with the federal government to decentralise policing, put more boots on the ground and significantly improve the equipment and technology deployed in the security sector.”

He, however, expressed concern over the failure of traditional rulers in Zangon Kataf Chiefdom to prevent youths from taking laws into their hands, saying action would be taken to send clear message to them in that regard.

“We note with concern the continued failure of traditional and community leaders in Zangon Kataf Chiefdom to prevent resort to self-help by recalcitrant youths, and assure you all that we will take some actions to send a message in this regard,” the governor said.