Pulse List 2018: 5 Major attacks that shook Nigeria in 2018

Scores of people were killed in herder-farmer clashes in Benue State last month -- a mass funeral was held in the state capital, Makurdi

Here are five major attacks that shook Nigeria in 2018.

In 2018, it was different shades of
attack and killing across Nigeria.

Boko Haram attacks and banditry up
country, herdsmen attacks in the middle belt region ritual activities in the
south; these incidents came with fear, sorry and misery.

Here are five major attacks that shook
Nigeria in 2018.

Benue/Plateau killings

 

Residents of Benue state, north central
Nigeria, would never forget 2018.

The year began with the killing of
villagers in Logo and Guma local governments by suspected herdsmen.

Remains of 73 persons who lost their
lives were laid to rest in mass graves after a funeral service by the Benue
state government in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris
, ignored President Buhari’s order to relocate to Benue state pending
restoration of peace to all affected areas. The IGP was said to have left Makurdi
same day of visiting the affected areas.

 

Just as Benue was mourning, Plateau
witnessed series of attacks in Barkin-Ladi local government area. President Buhari would order the
deployment of military personnel to the affected areas.

Operation Ayem Kpa’tuma (cat
race) was flagged off to restore calm to all troubled areas.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, the two priests, Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, were also killed during a mass along with 17 worshippers when attackers invaded St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ukpor-Mbalom in Ayar-Mbalom community of Gwer East LGA.

A few days later, arrests were made by the
combined team of military forces. Peace was restored to the area.

 

While normalcy seem to have returned to
the area, persons displaced by the attacks are still living under unhealthy
conditions in internally displaced persons’ camps in Daudu and other parts of
the state.

Dapchi

On Monday, February 19, 2018, a faction
of the Boko Haram terrorist sect invaded the Government Secondary School Dapchi, Yobe
state, kidnapping 110 girls and a boy.

 

The insurgents were said to have arrived
the school with buses and Hilux vans which they used to transport the girls out
of town.

After days of negotiations, 105 Dapchi
schoolgirls and a boy were released leaving behind Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl who
refused to renounce her faith.

 

As negotiations for her release
continue, Nigerians are worried about the fate of so many young girls in
Dapchi who the insurgents warned, sternly, never to return to school.

Metele

On Thursday, November 18, 2018, Boko
Haram terrorists overran a 157 Task Battalion in Metele,
village in Guzamala local government area of Borno State, in an attack carting
away large cache of arms and military equipment after leaving the base strewn
with the corpses of dozens of soldiers.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari who was shocked
by the news immediately ordered the Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Aliand meet with stakeholders in the Lake Chad region.

Some soldiers who survived said over 200
of their colleagues died during the attack due to lack of sophisticated weapons
needed to battle the insurgents.

The military authorities, however, said 23
soldiers died during the attack. Despite huge budgetary allocations, soldiers’ welfare remains a major source of
concern to those at the frontlines.

Aid workers

 

On Thursday, March 1, 2018, Boko Haram terrorists
abducted three aid workers with International Committee of the Red Cross in an
IDP camp in Borno state.

After months in captivity, the insurgents
killed Saifura Khorsa, one of the nurses.

On September 17, 2018, Hauwa Liman, was killed by insurgents
days after release of her ‘cry for help audio’.

The Boko Haram terrorists have also said that Alice
Loksha

and Leah Sharibu would be their “slaves for life”. A disturbing signal that the
war against terrorism may not have been completely won.

Zamfara killings

 

For months now, bandits have invaded
Zamfara communities killing dozens of villagers with many injured.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari had revealed
that 2,385 people were killed by bandits in the state from 2011 to date.

Senator Kabiru Marafa had blamed the
killings on Yari’s leadership style; the governor has refuted these claims.

While the attacks seem to have reduced,
citizens in these villages still leave in fear.


Source: News

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