Nigerian security officials bore the brunt of killings by non-state actors last week, accounting for 80 percent of the 30 people killed.
Of the 30 people killed last week (March 13-18), 20 were security personnel employed by the state, while four were vigilantes; the other six were civilians. The 20 official security staff consist of 16 police officers, two prison service officers, one NDLEA officer and one soldier.
The highest number of security personnel killed continues from the previous week, when 24 security personnel (18 policemen and six soldiers) were also killed. However, the total death toll of 30 people, killed by non-state actors last week, was significantly less than the more than 100 people killed the previous week.
Four of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones experienced at least one murder. Only the Southwest and South-South registered zero incidents.
PREMIUM TIMES compiled the incidents from media reports. Therefore, unreported cases are not included.
Below are the recorded incidents:
Southeast
An officer with the e National Drug Control Agency (NDLEA) was shot dead on Tuesday when gunmen attacked the agency’s head office in Ebonyi state.
A patient undergoing rehabilitation at the agency’s rehabilitation center also died during the attack that occurred around 2 a.m.
In Imo, gunmen on Wednesday attacked and killed two officers from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) who were on patrol in the city of Okigwe.
The attack occurred in Umulolo in the Okigwe area of the state.
Also in Imo, gunmen during the early hours of Saturday bombed Umuguma Divisional Police Headquarters situated in the Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State.
The attackers also killed two police officers who were on duty.
Northwest
Three civilians and 10 policemen were killed by bandits in Ngaski town and Gafara community of Ngaski local government area of Kebbi state.
The deputy representing the area, Yusuf Tanko-Sununu, said that the bandits had sent a letter that they would attack the community where a tomato processing plant is located.
In Jigawa, at least two people were killed in violence between farmers and herders. Residents said the death toll was higher, but police confirmed only two deaths.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the standoff began after suspected herders killed a farmer with a bow and arrow after they invaded his farm.
central north
Suspected bandits killed a divisional police officer in Magama local government area on Tuesday Niger State during an attack on the village of Nasko, police said.
Police spokesman in the state, Wasiu Abiodun, said in a statement that the senior officer, Mohammed Umar, was killed in a shootout that killed two other policemen and four guards.
Also in Niger, a police inspector was delicate in a shootout between the Niger State Joint Security Task Force and bandits in Bangi, Mariga local government area of the state.
Security officers were reported to have killed more than 100 bandits on Wednesday while thwarting a planned attack on a police station.
northeast
A newly recruited soldier identified only as Jamilu was confirmed dead after a deadly ambush by militants belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The soldier who joined the Nigerian army in 2021 was killed when terrorists attacked a military base in the Bama local government area of Borno state.
aggrieved cops
Amid rising killings of police and other security personnel, junior police officers across the country are threatening a nationwide strike.
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Officials cite poor pay and poor working conditions as the main reasons for the planned strike.
To prevent the strike from happening, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the police hierarchy asked senior officers to ‘engage in a campaign of clarification’ of junior officers ‘within their areas of responsibility’.
“You must implore all service members to be careful in these difficult times and tell them that the Force management team is making great efforts to improve the general welfare of police officers in general,” the police said in a circular sent to senior officers.