Report puts number of people killed in Kaduna at 937, 1,972 kidnapped

Kaduna government has released the Annual Security Report for 2020 which indicated that 937 people were killed and 1, 972 kidnapped with Kaduna Central recording  the highest death toll.

Governor Nasir E-Rufai at the presentation of the report, yesterday, paid tributes to victims of insecurity, reiterating his administration’s resolve to continue to protect the people and stop criminals from having their way.

He said the state had been using  its limited tools  as a subnational to address its security challenges.

The governor said he has been supporting federal security agencies deployed in the state with vehicles and other logistics since 2015 and also invested in technology to help secure the state.

He,  however, regretted that this collaboration which was done in 2015, ‘’was not sustained or expanded into a campaign of continuous, simultaneous operations against the bandits across our vast region.’’

He called for the decentralisation of policing, arguing that  ‘’there simply are not enough police officers in Nigeria and the idea of policing such a vast, federal republic in a unitary manner is not pragmatic.”

Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said victims of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities cut across all ethnic and religious groups in Kaduna state, contrary to skewed narratives.

 “Victims of criminal acts like banditry and kidnapping are to be found across ethnic, religious or political leanings and persuasions,’’ he said.

Aruwan noted that the total number of deaths linked to banditry and other forms of violence in 2020 was 937, adding that ‘’of this number, Igabi has the highest figure of 152, followed by Kajuru with a figure of 144.’’

He said Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local governments in Kaduna  Central  senatorial district accounts for 468 deaths out of the 937 people that died in 2020,   representing over 50 per cent of the entire fatalities in the state.

 “The southern senatorial district accounts for 286 deaths, which is about one third of the total, due in large part to sporadic clashes , alongside banditry which triggered attacks and counter-attacks, especially between June and November 2020. Out of 1,972 people kidnapped in the period under review, Kaduna Central Senatorial district accounts for 1,561 and out of the total, 1,461 were kidnapped within Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local government areas.”