A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has lamented growing insecurity in different parts of the country, urging the federal government to intervene.
Speaking Friday in Abuja, during the Launch of the 2021 Mass Atrocities Report and Documentary, the Executive Director of Global Rights, Ms Abiodun Baiyewu, said that security agents and civilians have been gruesome murdered in different parts of the country.
She said that banditry, extremist violence, farmer-herdsmen clashes, secessionist agitations, communal conflicts, extra-judicial killings, cult gang clashes, political violence, mass abductions, among others, led to the death of over 6,895 Nigerians in 2021.
She said: “As done in previous years, our Mass Atrocities Causalities Tracking across Nigeria for 2021 measures the trajectories of the types of armed violence mentioned above, through the lens of atrocious killings and abductions.
“The numbers for 2021 are exponentially higher than that of 2020. Of the at least 6,895 persons killed in 2021, 844 of them were state security officers and 6051 civilians. Most of the security personnel killed were military personnel killed by Boko-Haram/ISWAP (277) and terrorist bandits (111).
“The third highest security personnel killings were by secessionist rebels in the South East (200). While most military personnel were killed in the North-East (Borno), and North-West (Zamfara), most police officers were killed in the South. Specifically, the South East.
“It is important to state that there are no silver bullets to ending Nigeria’s crisis of violence. There are also no quick fixes. The people and government of Nigeria will have to be deliberate and bravely commit to long term interventions to stem the tide. We reiterate the recommendations made in previous reports for stemming the tide, including strengthening Nigeria’s state institutions and governance structures, investing in human development, securing our borders, respect for rule of law, among others.”
Similarly, the Programme Director of Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI-Nigeria), Odinakaonye Lagi, said that impunity in its various forms, particularly, corruption and disregard for the rule of law, has continued to jeopardise security across the country.
“As already seen in the first few months of the year, the various threats of violence have become more intense, inflation and unemployment rose exponentially in 2021 further exacerbating their trajectory. Citizens’ frustration and deepened mistrust have become more palpable.
“Impunity in its various forms, particularly, corruption ,state capture and disregard for the rule of law continue to jeopardise security across the country especially with very limited state resources and weak institutions.
“It is important to state that there are no silver bullets to ending Nigeria’s crisis of violence, there are also no quick fixes, the people and government of Nigeria will have to be deliberate and bravely commit to long term interventions to stem the tide,” she said.
“As CSOs, we have made some recommendations for stemming the tide, which include strengthening Nigeria’s state institutions and governance structures, as well as investment in human development. There is need for efficacious resource governance in Nigeria by being forward thinking about the future and govern the resources accordingly.
“There is also need to reduce the proliferation of arms across the country as revealed by SBM intelligence report on `Small Arms, Mass Atrocities and Migration in Nigeria’. The report estimated that there were 6,145,000 arms in the possession of non-state actors in Nigeria, while the nation’s security forces had only 586,600 firearms.
“The nation’s porous land and sea borders have remained easy conduits for smuggling arms, so there is need to secure Nigeria’s borders and employ ungoverned spaces. There is need for disincentive to electoral violence, because it would reduce the need for the importation and local manufacturing of arms, which after elections were never mopped,” she added.
On his part, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, said that proactive measures needed to be put in place to prevent such atrocities from happening.
“Corruption has made it difficult for promotion of the rights of Nigerians and we all as Nigerians should not lose our lives. The government should address corruption. If you cannot have security accountability, the situation is bound to get out of hand.
“There is need to improve security accountability, create reforms, end corruption and make sure mechanism for reporting atrocities are active. There is need to also restore confidence to Nigerians especially those who report wrongdoing so that it would not backfire This will contribute to the safety of Nigerians and stop impunity,” he said.