Connected Development: In June, 465 people were killed… 355 abducted in Nigeria

Connected Development (CODE), a civil society organisation, says in June, at least 465 people were killed and 355 were abducted across the country.

The information is contained in CODE’s monthly security report which was presented to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.

While presenting the report, Ani Nwachukwu, CODE’s head for research and policy, said 120 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries and about 2,000 persons mostly in rural communities were displaced.

“We are asking the question, what is needed; more funds or accountability for safer communities? In June alone, a total of 465 persons lost their lives mainly to violent attacks; 355 persons were kidnapped and 120 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries,” Nwachukwu said.

“About 2,000 persons suffered displacement from their homes.

“Over the years, Nigeria has increased military spending or defense budget to enhance its military power and improve security conditions but attacks are not subsiding accordingly as recent trends have shown that security breakdowns are worsening despite huge budgetary provisions.

“As a leading civil society organization, CODE is using this macro analysis report to highlight the missing gaps of accountability within our security sector especially as scarce resources are allocated to the detriment of critical sectors like education and health without corresponding outcomes on peace and political stability.”

On his part, Hamzat Lawal, CODE’s chief executive officer (CEO), said his organisation has been holding the government to account for the past 10 years.

“For the past ten years, we have held public officials accountable and demanded that they keep their promises to their constituents by expediting timely interventions. Last year was no different,” he said.

“We tracked N1.167 billion worth of constituency projects in 30 communities across three senatorial zones of Kaduna.

“Across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, via ‘Follow the Money’, we assessed the readiness of 90 PHCs to receive, store and effectively administer vaccines with the purpose of equally driving quality standardization of PHCs in Nigeria.”