Days after unknown gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, allegedly attacked a serving Governor in Nigeria while he was inspecting his farm, there have been increasing worries over insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria. With the country’s next elections just 26 months away, this incident has further heightened fears that the rising spate of insecurity might derail the process.
In the last decade, the insurgency has festered across the African Continent: from Eygptian militia group Al-Qaeda to Somalia’s Al- Shabaab founded in 2004 which has killed over 4,000 to Nigeria’s Boko Haram, in West Africa notorious for claiming thousands of lives. The herdsmen militia has also stepped up to the list of terrorist groups as it has claimed responsibility for scores of killings in farmer-herdsmen clashes across the country. The recent alleged herdsmen attack on the governor of Nigeria’s northcentral state of Benue has raised fresh concerns. A striking statement made by the Governor is that intense insecurity in the country may mar the success of the country’s polls. While this has been received with some criticisms, political analysts who spoke with News Central do not differ from this position.
Between 2009 and 2021, at least over 1 million people have been displaced and thousands killed in militia attacks across Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria with Amnesty International saying women and children are the worst hit.
