The year 2023 was brutal, as many Nigerians were ruthlessly killed by terrorists and other non-state actors.
In the 2023 calendar year, over 8,119 people were killed in over 4,326 violent events that were recorded across Nigeria, data obtained and analysed by the Sunday Tribune have revealed. Events in this context mean those relating to political violence, demonstrations (rioting and protesting), and other select non-violent, politically important events.
In the year under review, checks by Sunday Tribune showed that civilians were majorly at the receiving end in 1,901 events, leading to the killings of 2,705 civilians who were victims of targeted attacks nationwide.
The figure is according to data curated by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a United States-based disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project that uses real-time data and analysis sources on political violence and protests worldwide.
According to the data, the single event with the most killings recorded happened on February 27, 2023, during a clash between Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters and the JAS faction of Boko Haram at Choliye village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State. Reports noted that Boko Haram fighters who were fleeing the area with their families were killed by the ISWAP fighters. The death toll was put at 200, most of whom are children and women.
Four other events with the most number of fatalities recorded occurred in Rarah area of Rabah (Sokoto), Wa-Jahode and Grazah in Gwoza LGA (Borno), Dan Mani, coded to Dan Sadau forest, Maru (Zamfara) and Bulabulin, along the Komadugu-Yobe River close to Geidam (Yobe) on January 16th, June 6, October 11 and November 2nd respectively where the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted airstrikes on Boko Haram fighters, Sokoto and Zamfara militias. Though hundreds of persons were killed in each of the separate attacks, 100 fatalities were recorded for each of them.
