At least 3,133 Nigerians were reportedly killed in Nigeria in the second quarter of the year in violent incidents, including attacks by Boko Haram terrorists, militia herdsmen, bandits, armed robbers and others.
This is according to SBM Intelligence, a socioeconomic research firm, in its Media Reported Killings in Nigeria report for Q2 2021, April to June 2021.
Civilians made up the highest number of Nigerians killed at 1,772, followed by Bandits (416) and Boko Haram Terrorists (334).
The report also revealed that of those reported killed, 296 were security personnel including Customs, DSS, NSCDC, Police and the Military.
Benue State reported the most deaths at 473, followed by Zamfara (461) and Borno (444). Jigawa, Ekiti and Abia led the lowest number of deaths with 18 and 8 respectively.
The North West led the deaths by geopolitical zones with 894, followed by the North Central at 867. The region with the lowest number of reported killings was the South West with just 177.
Another worrying trend in the reported media deaths is the rise of cultism with 113 reported deaths of cultists for the same period.