Nigeria Mourns, a media tracking group, has said about 310 Nigerians lost their lives as a result of security crises across the country in May 2019, with Zamfara, Borno and Katsina states recording the highest number of deaths.
The group made the disclosure in a report released in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the report, among the dead were 22 soldiers and seven policemen.
The report countered the claims by the federal government and security agencies that they had control over insecurity in the country, insisting that attacks by terrorists, cultists, bandits and other criminal elements have remained regular occurrences.
It said: “Despite claims of control over insecurity by security heads and the President, several attacks from insurgents, bandits, cultists and herdsmen, among others, have occurred, leaving a host of casualties and reported deaths of 310 citizens.
“Even more worrisome is the fact that citizens have lost confidence in the ability of the government to safeguard the lives and property of its citizens, and as they continue to live in fear of attacks; many have taken to securing arms to protect themselves.
“The recurring violent incidents bring to mind several questions, among which are: why do these attacks abound despite the deployment of security personnel to troubled areas of the country? How useful are the intelligentsia of the security forces to the prevention of these mass atrocities?
A breakdown of the numbers showed that the North-Western state of Zamfara lost 67 persons to banditry in May while Borno State lost 64 lives to the Boko Haram terrorists.
Katsina, followed with 51 deaths from banditry, kidnapping and related crises.
Furthermore, the report revealed that Taraba recorded 29 casualties; Jigawa, 26; Rivers, 18; Plateau and Edo states, 12 respectively.
Ebonyi and Ogun states had four and five deaths respectively.
Lagos, Delta and Kogi states recorded the least number of deaths among the states mentioned in the report with one death each.
