A group of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), forming the Civil Society Joint Action Group, has reported that within the first eight months of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, at least 2,423 people were killed and 1,872 were kidnapped.
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), disclosed these figures during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, representing the coalition. He called on the President to declare a state of emergency on the nation’s current security challenges.
Rafsanjani insisted that the President should set a deadline for security agencies to address the insecurity, underlining the need for a state of emergency declaration on kidnapping and other terrorist activities.
He expressed, “Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria, under the Civil Society Joint Action Group, Community of Practice Against Mass Atrocities, and Nigeria Mourns, are gravely concerned about the worsening security situation in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. We urge the Nigerian government to take decisive steps to halt the rampant insecurity, prevent further attacks by kidnap syndicates and terrorist groups, and account for those missing in these attacks.
“Data collected by Nigeria Mourns shows that during President Buhari’s second term (2019 to 2023), at least 24,816 Nigerians were killed and 15,597 were kidnapped, despite his initial promise to combat the rising insecurity.
“However, the situation has persisted under President Tinubu’s leadership, despite his assurances to tackle insecurity at the start of his presidency in May 2023. In the eight months since President Tinubu’s inauguration, our data indicates that at least 2,423 people have been killed in mass atrocity-related incidents and at least 1,872 have been kidnapped.
“We are especially alarmed by the surge in kidnappings, with at least 230 incidents, often involving multiple victims, occurring in the first two weeks of January 2024 alone.”
The coalition highlighted the escalating insecurity in Nigeria over the past fifteen years, citing various forms of violence including terrorism in the north, banditry in the northwest, farmer-herder conflicts in the Middle Belt, separatist movements in the southeast, piracy along the southern coast, and other communal and political violence.
Rafsanjani emphasized that these security issues have increasingly threatened Nigerians’ safety and well-being.
The coalition urged President Tinubu to take immediate action to address Nigeria’s security issues, including declaring a state of emergency on kidnapping and terrorism. They also called on the government to fulfill its constitutional duty to ensure the security and welfare of its citizens.
They also encouraged North Central state governors, including those in Kaduna, to consider establishing a unified security structure within legal bounds, similar to the Southwest’s Amotekun initiative, to combat crime and violence in their region.
The call for action was prompted by an incident in Borno State, where a Boko Haram-planted IED on the Pulka-Firgi Road in Gwoza local government area killed seven farmers traveling in a commercial vehicle.
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