More Police Died In South-south Than Other Parts Of Nigeria — Report

A recent study has revealed that there have been more deaths of police officers in the south-south region of Nigeria than other parts of the country.

The study, done by the SBM intelligence, a Nigeria geopolitical intelligence platform, is titled “Under Attack: The Travails of Nigeria’s Police” and dated November 2020.

The survey said the relationship between the police and the citizenry was dysfunctional hence the reason for the #EndSARS nationwide protests in October.

“One interesting twist is that the states with the highest cases of police fatalities are concentrated in the South-South geopolitical zone of the country.

“While those with the least are in the North-East and North-West zones — regions with greater insecurity issues resulting from terrorism and banditry,” the report said.

The SBM report revealed that more police deaths have been recorded in the south-south region in the last six years.

It revealed that southern region fatalities include 44 deaths in Delta State, 38 in Rivers, and 30 in Edo State.

Other fatalities in the region also include 21 deaths in Bayelsa, 11 in Cross River, and nine in Akwa Ibom.

However, states like Bauchi, Jigawa and Kebbi have the lowest casualties with a single case of police fatality between 2015 and 2020.

The number of cases in the north-west and north-east, according to the study, is as a result of their little engagement in those regions.

“…Because of the compounding insecurity issues in both regions, the military has taken over the job of ensuring peace and security in the area, including the primary job of the police — policing,” it said.

Yet, the report said there were more civilian fatalities in connection with police fatalities than actual deaths of policemen.

“These deaths are often due to reprisal attacks by the police and unarmed civilians are the worst victims.

“While Kaduna (360) and Zamfara (209) saw the highest number of deaths, Jigawa and Kebbi had just one death each. The high numbers in Kaduna and Zamfara are partly due to activities of bandits who often target police officers and installations.

“While the North-West geopolitical zone has the highest number of total deaths in incidents involving police attacks, the South-South zone records the highest cases of police fatalities.”