The Kaduna State Government on Wednesday said in 2020, a total of 937 people were killed by bandits across the 23 local government areas of the state while 1,972 people were kidnapped.

According to the 2020 Annual Security Reports released by the state government, Kaduna Central Senatorial district recorded 152 death cases, the highest number.

While presenting the report to Governor Nasir El-Rufai at the Council Chamber of Sir Kashim Ibrahim House Kaduna, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local governments in the Central Senatorial district account for 468 deaths out of the 937 people that died last year, representing over 50% of the entire fatalities in the state.

In his presentation, Aruwan said victims of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities cut across all ethnic and religious groups in Kaduna 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,” he added.

The commissioner further said out of 1,972 people kidnapped in the period under review, Kaduna Central Senatorial district accounts for 1,561 out of which 1,461 were kidnapped within Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local government areas.

“The Data presented shows clearly that banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling are serious challenges in the state along with sporadic episodes of communal clashes. Banditry and kidnapping have also triggered or exacerbated communal clashes,” Aruwan stressed.

He added that insecurity has hampered farming activities in some areas.

Aruwan said this has reversed the trend of bumper harvest the state recorded in the recent years and is likely to induce food shortages in the region and the country at large.

In his remark, El Rufai said his administration has been using its limited tools to address the security challenge facing the state and has been supporting the federal security agencies deployed with vehicles and other logistics since 2015.

El-Rufai, who paid tributes to the victims of insecurity, reiterated his administration’s resolve to continue to protect the people, adding that the state government has also invested in technology to help secure the state.

“A CCTV network is being deployed in Kaduna metropolis while options for consistent operations of its drones are being explored,” he said.

“Together with Niger State and our neighbours in the North-west, we put together resources to fund military operations against bandits in the Kamuku-Kuyambana forest range that straddles the region,” he said.

The governor 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.”

Source:- Daily Trust