- In less than three months in 2018, many Nigerian families have lost their loved ones to auto accidents and murder, amounting to 1,351 persons
- President Muhammadu Buhari has said that efforts are being made to curb the high rate of death in the country
- Also, the federal government has said that it is making moves to recover the missing Dapchi school girls
2018 for some families in Nigeria has become a year of pain and sorrow due to deaths arising from auto accidents and cases of murder. In less than three months into the year, the country has lost 1,351 persons to violent deaths, Vanguard reports.
In February, not less than 517 people died due to violence, across the country. In January, about 676 Nigerians were lost to herdsmen-farmers clashes, sectarian crises, communal clashes, Boko Haram insurgency, cult clashes, kidnapping, and ritual killings, among others.
The deaths are 176 more than the 500 recorded in January 2017. The 1,351 deaths recorded since the beginning of 2018 exclude those who died from illness, childbirth, Lassa fever, etc. The north-east remains the major death region with 591 deaths.
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The next is the northcentral, 270; northwest, 193; southwest, 136; and south-south, 131. Towards the end of the list is southeast, 30. Borno,the hottest spot of the Book Haram insurgency, recorded the highest number of deaths with a figure of 361.
After Borno is Benue, 163; and Borno’s neighbouring states, Taraba (107) and Adamawa, which witnessed 103 violent deaths; Kaduna, 71; Rivers, 66; Plateau, 54; Zamfara, 45; Lagos, 45.
Other states that also witnessed high rate of deaths are Ondo, 39; Ogun, 35; Jigawa, 30; Kano, 27; Nasarawa, 22; Delta, 19; Anambra, 18; Kebbi, 18; Akwa Ibom, 16; Kogi, 14, and Cross River, 14. The rest are Oyo, 12; Bauchi, 11; Yobe, 9; Edo, 9; Bayelsa, 7; Kwara, 6; FCT Abuja, 6; Niger, 5; Enugu, 4; Imo, 4; Ebonyi, 3; Katsina, 2; Ekiti, 2; Abia, 1; and Osun, 1.
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Gombe and Sokoto had no reports of violent deaths. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that efforts are being made to ensure that the hawk of death across the country is tamed. He said this in Taraba state during his visit to commiserate with the people of the state after violent attacks claimed the lives of many resident there.
The president also visited Plateau. He will continue his visit to victims of violent crimes across the country on Tuesday, March 13 when he will proceed to Benue. Also, the federal government is increasing efforts to ensure that it safely recovers all the 110 abducted students of Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that a recent report by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), said that Nigeria had one of the highest newborn deaths in the world. The report also stated that even though the situation is improving, the progress is very unimpressive.
Going by the newborn mortality rate of 29 deaths per 1,000 births, the global estimates rank Nigeria as the 11th highest on newborn deaths. In the new Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), conducted by the federal government between 2016 and 2017, the rate of newborn deaths per 1000 births is 37.
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Source: Naija.ng