Experts have lamented the level of devastation and negative impact insecurity has brought upon the country.

In a latest study carried out by Nextier, a leading think-tank in Nigeria, profiling the entire security situation in the country, particularly on pastoral banditry, vandalism among other forms of terrorism, observed that for over two decades, violent insecurity surged in scale and sophistication, posing an unprecedented threat to valued assets, including lives, investments, and the state’s territorial integrity.

The experts asserted that statistical mapping based on armed conflict location and event data and the Nextier violent conflict database reveals that between January 1997 and March 2020, 2,203 incidents of hostility between and among ethnic-based militia groups resulted in 16,328 fatalities.

The report also gleaned that for the same period, 1,473 incidents of pastoral banditry killed no fewer than 9,971 people (55 per cent from 2015).

It also observed that between 2000 and 2018, 19,896 cases of pipeline vandalization and 320 cases of rupture were recorded in the Niger Delta, resulting in the loss of 2.45 metric tons of oil worth Naira 125.4 billion and 375 fire outbreaks.

The experts also asserted that between 2000 and 2019, the Gulf of Guinea region recorded 987 piracy and armed robberies against ships (52.6 per cent occurred in Nigerian waters), stressing that in addition, between 2009 and March 2020, Boko Haram and its different factions were involved in 3,283 incidents of armed conflict, claiming 33,127 lives in Nigeria.

The comprehensive report made available to reporters in Abuja on Sunday also indicated that recently, between January 2021 and April 2022, 6,961 murder cases were recorded in the country (6,895 in 2021 alone).