New Telegraph

Amnesty Int’l: Bandits kill 1,126 Nigerians in 6 months

 

Amnesty International, yesterday, said that no fewer than 1,126 people were killed in rural communities across seven states in the northern region of Nigeria within the first six months of this year.

 

The human rights organisation said that the carnage, believed to have been perpetrated by bandits, have assumed a frightening dimension that portrays the Nigerian security forces as having left citizens in these communities at the mercy of the rampaging gunmen.

 

At least 380 people have been abducted for ransom during attacks in Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Nasarawa and Zamfara states in 2020, mostly women and children. Largely, relatives of those abducted sell all their belongings to pay ransom to the gunmen and those unable to pay are mostly killed.

 

These revelations were contained in the latest report released yesterday by Amnesty International. In the report, the organisation said it interviewed civilians in Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states, who said they live in fear of attacks and abductions as insecurity escalates in the rural communities.

 

Many of those interviewed described how security forces often arrived hours after attacks had ended, even when they were given information about the impending attacks.

 

One of those interviewed for the report, narrated that during one attack in Unguwan Magaji in Kaduna State, security forces arrived at the scene, but left soon afterwards when they saw the sophisticated arms and ammunition the attackers were using.

 

By the time they returned, the report said, at least 17 people had been killed. Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, said the organisation has documented an alarming escalation in attacks and abductions in several states in North-West and North-Central Nigeria since the beginning of the year.

 

According to Ojigho, the worst affected areas are villages in the southern region of Kaduna State, where armed men killed at least 366 people in multiple attacks between January and June 2020. “Terrifying attacks on rural communities in the North of Nigeria have been going on for years. The ongoing failure of security forces to take sufficient steps to protect villagers from these predictable attacks is utterly shameful.

 

“In addition to the security forces’ failure to heed warnings or respond in time to save lives, the fact that no perpetrators have been brought to justice leaves rural communities feeling completely exposed.

 

The President claims he has repeatedly tasked security agencies to end the killing so that Nigerians can go to bed with their eyes closed, but clearly nothing has changed,” she said. Amnesty International said that at least 77 people have been killed since January 2020 in the ongoing communal clashes between the Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups in Taraba State.

 

New Telegraph gathered that the conflict between the two ethnic groups has been on and off since the early 1990s as various efforts by the authorities to end it failed. Amnesty International also reported that on May 28, at least 74 people were reportedly killed in Sokoto State, when gunmen attacked four villages in Sabon Birni Local Government Area.

 

According to witnesses interviewed in Kaduna, Plateau and Katsina states, the attacks are well coordinated as the assailants usually stormed villages on motorcycles, shooting sporadically at people and setting houses on fire. In the confusion, they settle down to steal cattle, destroy farm produce and abduct villagers for ransom.

 

“Most villagers told Amnesty International that the government left them at the mercy of their attackers. They complained of receiving little or no help from security officials during attacks, despite informing them prior or calling for help during attacks.

 

They lamented that, in most cases, the security forces arrived hours after attacks,” the report stated. In response to the increasing violence, Governor  Nasr el-Rufai of Kaduna State, had imposed a 24-hour curfew in the affected communities, but the attacks have continued. Violence has been on and off in southern Kaduna since the aftermath of 2011 elections and authorities have failed to both end the violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.

 

On 6 August, at least 22 people were reported killed when gunmen suspected to be herders attacked four communities in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state. More than 100 people were killed in July during 11 suspected coordinated attacks in Chikun, Kaura and Zangon-Kataf Local Government Areas of the state.

 

At least 16 people were killed in Kukum-Daji on 19 July 2020, in an attack that lasted for five minutes, when attackers shot sporadically at villagers. A farmer in Kukum Daji, whose son was killed during the attack, informed Amnesty International: “My son was 20 years old, he had just gotten admission at the University of Jos.

 

He was at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic, then the attack happened. When I saw his dead body, my body became very weak, I started feeling dizzy, I thought I was going to fall, my whole body was on fire, but there was nothing I could do, I just told myself that I am leaving everything to God. I will never be happy again in this life for losing this boy. His death has really affected me.”

 

In Katsina State, Amnesty International also reported that violence has forced many farmers and their families to flee their homes. According to the report, at least 33,130 people are now in displacement camps, and others have gone to stay with relatives in urban areas.

 

 

Ojigho said that due to the violence, thousands of farmers could not cultivate their farms during the 2020 rainy season because of fear of attacks or abduction. “These attacks have caused massive displacement and food insecurity in the affected states. The majority of the people in these communities depend on farming for their livelihoods, but they are now too afraid to go to their fields.

 

“This is pushing the region to the brink of a major humanitarian crisis. The Nigerian authorities’ failure to stem the violence is costing people’s lives and livelihoods, and without immediate action, many more lives may be lost,” Ojigho said. A 50-year-old farmer in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State told Amnesty how his community had been attacked several times. “Our village has been attacked several times. Not once, not twice, but 10 times.

 

To farm is even a problem; the bandits have stopped us from going to our farms, we only cultivate the farms close to the house. My family farm that was not cultivated this year is more than 300 hectares of land,” he said. Amnesty International expressed frustration that not only has the Nigerian government failed to take the steps needed to stop these attacks, security operatives regularly punished those who dared to ask for more protection.

 

The report contains cases of farmers, rights groups, and activists who were subjected to intimidation, arrest and torture for speaking out against the attacks and asking the government to protect the people. “In their response to these attacks, the Nigerian authorities have displayed gross incompetence and a total disregard for people’s lives.

 

Arresting people who dare to ask for help is a further blow. Instead of arresting critics, the authorities should be seeking urgent solutions to this crisis and doing all they can to prevent further attacks,” said Ojigho.

 

Amnesty International has, therefore, called on Nigerian authorities to independently investigate all these deaths and ensure accountability by bringing the perpetrators to justice.

 

It described the spate of these killings as an evidence of failure of authorities to protect the people, stressing that the inability of the authorities to bring attackers to justice has been fuelling dangerous conspiracy theories that only escalate the violence

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