A report by an Abuja-based security risk management and intelligence consulting company, Beacon Consulting, says Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger states suffered heavy casualties from about 1,031 people that have so far been killed in June 2021 alone by bandits and unknown gunmen in Nigeria.

A total of 275 persons were said to have been killed in Zamfara State, while Kebbi and Niger states lost 93 and 91 persons respectively within the month under review.

The report also said that 390 others were abducted in 205 incidences recorded in 34 states of the country.

The report titled: “Nigeria Security Report” recorded diverse security incidences in June; ranging from armed attacks, armed clashes, mob violence, social upheaval to violent crime, Daily Trust reports.

Incidences of fatalities and kidnappings were recorded in 127 LGAs across 34 states of the federation with the exception of Bauchi and Gombe.

Daily Trust reported that the majority of the cases were recorded in areas bedevilled by rural banditry.

According to the report, Boko Haram and related groups killed nine persons and abducted 20 others in four attacks recorded in the month. In the same period, attacks attributed to unknown gunmen, Eastern Security Network and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) led to the killings of 18 persons in 12 attacks.

A breakdown shows that the North West recorded the highest incidences with 416 fatalities and 280 abductions in 28 LGAs, followed by the North Central which recorded 218 fatalities and 24 abductions in 27 LGAs.

The North East recorded 188 fatalities and 22 abductions within the period in review, while the South East recorded 117 killings and 26 abductions. The breakdown also shows that the South West had 74 fatalities and 27 abductions, while the South-South recorded 18 fatalities and 11 abductions.

In the North West, Zamfara, where activities of bandits pauperized most rural dwellers, there were no abductions recorded, despite the loss of 275 persons in attacks. Neighbouring Kebbi State had 93 fatalities with 119 abductions. Similarly, Kaduna State recorded 26 deaths with 157 abductions.

While Katsina State recorded six deaths with three abductions, Sokoto State had 15 fatalities with zero abduction, Kano and Jigawa States recorded one death each with no abductions.

In the North Central, the breakdown shows that Niger State recorded the highest incidences of fatalities of 91 and three abductions, followed by Benue with 72 deaths and a single abduction, while Plateau recorded 27 fatalities and a single abduction.

Kwara State recorded 11 deaths with no abduction, while Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded three deaths and 10 abductions respectively.

According to the report, the activities of non-state actors popularly referred to as bandits continued unabated in the North West and North Central despite ongoing security forces operations.

The report reads in part: “In the reporting period, the violent attacks on mainly rural communities were sustained in Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, and Zamfara states and mass abduction of students in schools in Kebbi, Kaduna, and Niger states, as well as families of staff, workers and patients at a medical institution in Kaduna State.

“We also monitored the setting up of illegal checkpoints, where these non-state actors abducted commuters and in one incident along the Kaduna – Kachia road, killed some of their victims for unknown reasons. We monitored increasing indications of the convergence between armed groups in the northeast and the ones in the North Central and North West.”

In the North East, a total of 101 fatalities were recorded in eight LGAs of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Taraba. Some of the incidences mentioned in the report in the region were Boko Haram attack on a community and killing of policemen, as well as the burning of UN facilities in Yobe State; the killing of over 50 ISWAP terrorists in Borno and the killing of six ISWAP terrorists in Dikwa, Borno State.

Also mentioned was the storming by bandits of Gadawaluwol village in Adamawa State in which one person was killed, as well as the killing by suspected herdsmen of a father and two sons in Galang Jauro village in Taraba State.

In the South East, according to the report, 117 fatalities were recorded with 26 kidnappings in 20 LGAs of Enugu, Anambra, Abia and Ebonyi States. The incidences in which the fatalities and kidnappings were recorded include armed attacks, armed clashes, social upheavals, violent crimes and airstrikes/bomb attacks.

In the South-South, 17 fatalities and one kidnapping were recorded in 15 LGAs of Edo, Rivers, Delta, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom. The incidences included armed attacks, armed clashes, social upheavals, violent crimes, and airstrikes/bomb attacks. In the South West, the report recorded 74 fatalities and 27 abductions from 30 LGAs of Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, and Lagos. The incidences include armed attacks, armed clashes, social upheavals, violent crimes, and airstrikes/bomb attacks.