The Christian Association of Nigeria recently expressed fears that the security challenges currently facing the country, including terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, remained the biggest threat to the 2023 general election.
The association’s President, Samson Ayokunle, according to a statement on Wednesday by his Special Assistant (Media and Communication), Adebayo Oladeji, raised the fears on Tuesday evening during an interactive session with the European Union delegation led by the EU Chief Election Observer, Maria Arena.
The delegation had wanted to know the position of CAN on the preparation of all stakeholders, including the Independent National Electoral Commission, security agencies and political parties ahead of the elections.
Ayokunle, who also doubles as the Co-Chairman of the Nigeria Inter Religious Council, explained that the security situation in Nigeria might not allow the general election to be credible, free and fair if the voters are not allowed to go out to exercise their inalienable rights because of fear of being harmed or kidnapped or killed.
“We call on the Federal Government and the security agencies to wake up to the security challenges in the country where terrorists, bandits and kidnappers are operating with impunity and nowhere is safe and secure again.
“If the trend continues, many voters may not participate and the outcome of the election may not be credible,” the CAN President said.
He observed that the government appears to be struggling to nip the ugly situation in the bud, as its present effort was far from being enough.
“We have been struggling with this situation now for the past 13 years, yet, we are still where we are,” Ayokunle lamented.
Also, the electoral umpire, INEC, has added its voice to the frightening level of insecurity in the country.
It said that the growing insecurity in several parts of the country is threatening the conduct of 2023 general elections.
Its National Commissioner in Charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, at a town hall meeting organised by the Nigeria Guild of Editors, on Thursday, noted that the increasing number of internally displaced persons will pose challenges to the commission for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
A total of 5,067 Nigerians were reportedly killed in 2021 owing to insecurity.
A recent research discovered that an average of 14 Nigerians died daily in various violent attacks from January to December 2021.
There were 1,024 reported violent attacks in the country in 2021.
Killings were reported in all the months of 2021; May had the highest reported deaths with 684 while October had the least with 290.
South West was the safest zone while the North West and North Central were the most attacked.
The South East witnessed a sharp rise in violent attacks with 567 deaths from reported attacks.
Kaduna had the highest number of reported attacks with 146.
Zamfara had the highest death toll with 703
Kano had five reported deaths from three incidents, the least among the states.
Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, robbers, kidnappers, cultists, and gunmen were the non-state actors who killed Nigerians the most in 2021.
It was reported that Kano recorded the least number of reported deaths in the country with five deaths from three attacks.
Kano was closely followed by Jigawa with seven deaths, Abuja, the country’s capital, had 10 and Bauchi 15.
Zamfara had the highest number of reported deaths with 703 deaths, followed by Kaduna with 652 and Benue with 460.
In 2021, Zamfara and Kaduna witnessed a surge in the activities of bandits, which led to a high frequency of attacks in the two states.
Zamfara, Kaduna, Benue and Niger accounted for 42 percent of the reported deaths in 2021.
A review of the reported deaths in 2021 in terms of geo-political zones shows that the South West region had the least number of deaths with 342.
In a previous data on security, the South East was regarded as the safest part of the country but in 2021, the region witnessed a sharp rise in violent attacks, which stakeholders have attributed to the activities of secessionist groups.
The North West region recorded the highest number of reported deaths with 1,963 deaths, followed by the North Central with 1,248 and the North East with 548.
“The level of insecurity in Nigeria today is not only eroding citizens’ safety and peoples’ means of livelihood but also threatening the expression of the rights of all Nigerians”
From available data, it was discovered that an average of three attacks daily were reported from January to December with a total of 1,024 in 2021.
In terms of frequency of attacks, February and April witnessed the highest number of reported attacks with 111 each, while October witnessed the least number of attacks with 49.
In terms of reported casualties, the highest number of deaths of 684 was recorded in May, followed by June with 601.
Zamfara recorded 703 reported casualties which were more than the casualty figure recorded by the six states in the South West altogether.
Zamfara was followed by Kaduna with 652 deaths, Benue with 460 and Niger with 429.
The northern region of the country, North West, North East and North Central, accounted for 74 percent of the reported casualties, while in the southern region South West, South East and South South accounted for 26 percent.
According to a report on the killings in 2020, 3,326 Nigerians were reported to have been killed in 735 attacks across the country. The average death in a day was nine.
The 2020 report when compared to the 2021 reported killings shows that there is a 52.3 percent rise in reported killings.
Average killing in a day rose from nine in 2020 to 14 in 2021 as the year saw a surge in violent attacks across the country.
There was a surge in the activities of insurgents and bandits in the northern part of the country, while gunmen and other criminal gangs carried out violent attacks in the southern part of the country.
Communal clashes and cultist activities also claimed lives in many parts of the country in 2021.
From the available statistics, it is quite obvious that the prevailing security challenges in the country could negatively affect the forthcoming general election in 2023.
The level of insecurity in Nigeria today is not only eroding citizens’ safety and peoples’ means of livelihood but also threatening the expression of the rights of all Nigerians.
The current insecurity is a threat to the 2023 elections because the Police are demoralized and this has to be seriously looked into. They have been stigmatised and the personnel have been made to believe that they cannot give Nigerians the needed security.
