At least 222 people were killed and 774 others abducted across Kaduna state in the last three months, a report released by the state government has said.
The killings were results of banditry, violent attacks, communal clashes and reprisals, the report, has said.
The report covers the second quarter of 2021, between April 1 to June 30, 2021.
Of the 222 deaths across the state, nine were women and eight were minors below the age of 18.
The report, ‘Security Incidents Report,’ was presented to Governor Nasiru El-Rufai by the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan, on Tuesday.
Kaduna central tops the list of death toll
The report revealed that of the 222 deaths, 159 were recorded in Kaduna Central Senatorial District ((72% of the total recorded). Specifically, 156 of these occurred in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Chikun and Kajuru LGAs.
It stated that Igabi recorded 44 deaths, Birnin Gwari 42, Chikun 37, Giwa 21, and Kajuru 12 in the second quarter of the year.
The Southern Kaduna Senatorial District had 54 deaths in total, of which five were women and four were below the age of 18. Kachia had 21 deaths, followed by Jema’a with 14, and Kauru with six.
On the other hand, the Northern Senatorial District recorded nine people killed in the second quarter ((around 4% of the total).
Abductions spree
Also, out of the 774 people kidnapped in the second quarter, Kaduna Central accounts for 555 (nearly 72% of the total). Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Chikun and Kajuru LGAs recorded 550 of these abductions. Chikun LGA had 148 abductions, Igabi 139, Giwa 91, Kajuru 89, and Birnin Gwari 83.
164 people were abducted from the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District, with Kachia reporting the highest number of 111. The Northern Senatorial District recorded 55 abductions, with 37 of these from Zaria. In total, 239 women, and 32 minors were kidnapped in the second quarter across the state.
20 rape cases
The report revealed that 20 persons were reported to have been raped across the state from April to June, 2021. Thirteen of these victims were minors.
Ten of the rape cases were reported from the Southern Kaduna Senatorial District, comprising five minors. Eight of the cases were recorded in the Northern Senatorial District, with seven of them minors. Four cases were reported from Soba.
Banditry defying our billions investment on security -El-Rufai
Governor El-Rufai said during the presentation of the report that the state’s “considerable investments in security are yet to manifest in the defeat or at least the considerable degradation of the criminals that menace our people. We have consistently supported the federal security agencies deployed to our state with logistics and equipment.”
He lamented that “apart from these recurrent expenses, the Kaduna State Government has undertaken capital expenditure to provide facilities that can multiply the capacity of security agencies to deter crime and conduct effective investigations of those that do occur.”
El-Rufai pointed out that the government “created the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs to provide a specialised institution to coordinate these investments and our liaison with the federal security agencies.”
