“Pockets of conflicts and insecurity in the country at large especially where I am today (Benue), the herders and farmers crisis and also kidnapping and banditry. This is now really getting out of hand."
At least 1,400 people have been killed by kidnappers and bandits in the last six months, says the United Nations
The UN Country Director, Edward Kallon, disclosed this in Makurdi, at a meeting with Governor Samuel Ortom, noting that killings by armed herdsmen and bandits outweigh killings by the Boko Haram.
“Pockets of conflicts and insecurity in the country at large especially where I am today (Benue), the herders and farmers crisis and also kidnapping and banditry. This is now really getting out of hand.
“The last statistics I saw from the government was that over 1,400 people were killed as a result of kidnapping and banditry since the elections.
“This is not a pleasant statistics,” he said.
Kallon also claimed that institutional failure at all levels of governance was responsible for the killing of over 1,400 persons since March 2019, particularly by armed herdsmen, bandits, and kidnappings.
“We all know the statistics and the menace of herders/farmers problems. There were more people killed by the herders and farmers crisis than the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.
“When I said this in Abuja, it was not being welcomed but that was one statistics we have. These are all due to weak institutions and governance deficit at the federal, state and local level,” Kallon said.