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New report reveals 55,910 Nigerians killed, 21,000 kidnapped in four years

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A fresh report published by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) has revealed that no fewer than 55,910 Nigerians have been killed, while 21,000 others were abducted by terror groups operating in different parts of the country in the past four years since 2019.

The result of the study, which was released on Thursday, also showed that more Nigerians were kidnapped in 2022 than previous years.

It added that the over 55,000 victims included both Muslims and Christians, although Christian death tolls are far higher.

The ORFA, which monitors the state of religious freedom, documents rights violations, and informs decision-makers through advocacy, lamented that Nigerian citizens were killed by the insurgents while the terror groups enjoyed relative freedom to carry out atrocities against civilians in large regions of Nigeria.

The report stressed that only a fraction of civilians were killed by ISIS or al-Qaeda affiliates during the four year period under review.

“Across the country, over 11,000 incidents of extreme violence took place during the data period, with more than 55,000 killings and 21,000 abductions,” the report signed by the organisation’s Data Scientist Frans Vierhout, titled, “Blind eyes to bloodshed: Fulani Ethnic Militia killing Nigerian civilians unopposed,” stated.

According to the report, the mass killings perpetrated by the terrorists in Nigerian communities are the outcome of a new study covering a period of four years between October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2023.

“Mass killings, abductions and torture of whole families go largely unchallenged as military pursue targets hundreds of miles away, finds four-year data project

“Islamist extremists enjoy relative freedom to carry out atrocities against civilians in large regions of Nigeria, according to data scientists behind a four-year study.

“Researchers at the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa recorded over 55,000 killings and mapped thousands of farm massacres and mass abductions in a four-year period, including in Nigeria’s fragile North Central Zone and Southern Kaduna.”

“A little-known terror group, the Fulani Ethnic Militia or FEM, commit mass killings hundreds of times a year through this region.

“55,910 people were killed in the context of terror groups in Nigeria within the four-year of study.

“In the North Central zone alone, 3,007 incidents of extreme violence occurred. 2,010 incidents involved killings, 700 were abduction incidents, and 297 were a combination of killings and abductions.

“Now data mapping has revealed security operations are concentrated in the North-East and North-West of Nigeria, hundreds of miles from the scenes of FEM atrocities.

“Millions of people are left undefended. For years, we’ve heard of calls for help being ignored, as terrorists attack vulnerable communities,” Vierhout pointed out.

The study also revealed that one of the key findings in the four-year study was that the little-known Fulani Ethnic Militia killed at least 42 per cent of all civilians, while Boko Haram and ISWAP (‘Islamic State West Africa Province) combined killed 10 per cent.

“The Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), an ethno-religious terror group, are considered by many security experts to be a ‘twin’ of Islamists killing and kidnapping civilians in Northern Nigeria land-based community attacks form the largest category of civilian killings (81%).

“FEM invaded small Christian farming settlements to kill, rape, abduct, and burn homes, just as 2.7 Christians were killed for every Muslim in the reporting period.

“Proportional loss: in states where attacks occur, proportional loss to Christian communities is exceptionally high. In terms of state populations, 6.5 times as many Christians are being murdered as Muslims

“The ORFA data project also reveals the widening reach of Islamist kidnapping in Nigeria, with incidents escalating through the four years: 2020 (1,665 people abducted)

“In the year 2021 (5,907 people abducted) 2022 (7,705 people abducted) and 2023 (6,255 people abducted). Christians are 1.4 times more likely to be abducted than Muslims.

“In terms of state populations, proportional loss of Christians is higher: around 5.1 Christians are abducted for every Muslim in terms of local populations.‘Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM) are targeting Christian populations, while Muslims also suffer severely at their hands,’ notes Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, partner to ORFA and analyst.

“Kidnappers work to Islamist goals. Where young women are kidnapped, tortured, and sexually violated, hope for normal married life and family may vanish.

“At the end of 2023, the International Displacement Monitoring Centre IDMC reported 3.3 million Nigerians were forcibly displaced from their homes and surviving in makeshift camps,” it said.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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Nigerian Senate confirms influx of terrorists from Mali, Burkina Faso into the country 

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The Nigerian Senate has raised the alarm over the influx of terrorists from Mali and Burkina Faso who operate in the name of Lakurawa, into Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger States in the northern parts of the country.

The Upper Chamber, which raised the alarm during plenary on Wednesday, called on the military to set up early warning mechanisms to forestall further incursions by terrorist groups as well as maintain presence and vigilance in the affected communities to halt the activities of the terror group from spreading further across the region.

The resolutions of the Senate were sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need for the federal government to take stringent measures to stop the infiltration of a group of violent terrorists, known as Lakurawa, from entrenching themselves in some northwest states of Sokoto and Kebbi,” and was sponsored by the senator representing Kebbi North, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, and co- sponsored by Senators Adamu Aliero, from Kebbi Central, and Garba Musa Maidoki, representing Kebbi South.

While presenting the motion, Senator Abdullahi said:

“The Senate is aware that a group of terrorists from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, known as Lakurawa, has infiltrated the country through the Nigeria-Niger border, at Illela, Tangaza and Silame Local Government Areas of Sokoto and are from there, attacking communities in Augie and Arewa LGAs in Kebbi State.

“Recall that this violent gang of terrorists had raided and dispossessed these communities, prior to the large-scale invasion of Mera, a village in Augie Local Government, on November 8, 2024, killing more than 20 people and fleeing with their livestock, amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

“Senate is aware that Kebbi State government promptly responded by sending a delegation with relief materials to the affected villages and assistance to the families of the deceased.

“Aware that Senator Yahaya A. Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi North Central) and Senator Garba Musa Maidoki (Kebbi South), along with some members of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State, have been to those areas, to commiserate with victims of the attacks on behalf of the National Assembly.

“Aware that if timely, adequate and decisive measures are not taken, this group can spread its reign of terror to other northern parts of the country and beyond.

“Notes the prompt response of the ministry of defence and the armed forces who despatched a well-armed military response squad that was able to dislodge the terrorists and secured the release of herds of cattle and other livestock stolen by the terrorists. These foreigners have invaded the country.

“We need to nip the situation in the bud, they have international connections, heavily armed with very dangerous weapons, the federal government should take the matter very seriously.

‘These terrorists are well armed with highly sophisticated weapons, this is a very serious matter on national security, they control the whole of Northern Mali and now attacking Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and others. The time to act is now, we have to take action on how to tame terrorism.”

He said the Senate should revisit past resolutions on terrorism and send them to the Presidency for immediate action.

”I want us to recall what happened in the 8th and 9th Senates. We discussed extensively how we can stem the tide of banditry and terrorism. We made far-reaching recommendations, and we asked the Executive arm of government to implement those resolutions.

“It is still relevant for us to insist that those resolutions should be implemented, if we do so, it will reduce the incidences of banditry and insurgency in the country. We can reduce it to the barest minimum.”

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