'Violent Incidents Report' 348 killed in violent attacks across Nigeria in December, reports claim

At least 348 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria in December 2020, a report by a non-governmental organisation, Nigeria Mourns, has shown

The report, titled “Violent Incidents Report: December 2020″, published on Monday was the last for the year 2020, through the use of newspaper reports and family sources to track violent killings.

According to the report, the cases for December were recorded in 27 states of the country and of the 348 people killed, 315 were civilians while 33 others were security operatives.

A total of 411 people were reportedly kidnapped in December last year.

The North-east state, Borno, troubled by Boko Haram, recorded the most alarming figures during the month with 70 deaths.

The casualty figures for each of the 27 states according to the report are as follows:

Borno – 70, Kaduna – 64, Niger – 26, Katsina – 24, Ogun – 23, Zamfara – 19, Benue – 17, Edo – 17, Delta – 14, Ebonyi – 13, Adamawa – 8, Oyo – 6, Ondo – 6, Bayelsa – 5, FCT – 5, Lagos – 5, Rivers – 4, Plateau – 3, Imo – 3, Cross River – 3, Kogi – 3, Jigawa – 3, Taraba – 2, Anambra – 2, Kano – 1, Osun – 1 and Enugu – 1.

On the aspect of the perpetrators of the violence, the report shows 136 people were killed by suspected bandits, 66 people killed by persons suspected to be members of Boko Haram or its breakaway faction, ISWAP, and 60 lives were claimed by in cult clashes.

In addition, communal crises led to the death of 41 people, 30 persons died in isolated attacks, eight killed by herdsmen and seven people through extrajudicial killings.