North-Central tops as police record 1,702 murder cases

A total of  1,702 murders, 2,149 kidnappings, and 320 robbery cases were recorded by the Nigeria Police Force across the country in 2023.

According to a report released on Friday, July 5, 2024, by Statisense, a data collection organisation, the North Central region had the highest number of reported murder cases, totalling 436 for the year.

During the year under review, the North-West recorded 417 murder cases, the North-East had 345, and the South-West recorded 174, ranking them second to fourth, respectively.

In the South-East and South-South regions, 169 and 161 murder cases were recorded, respectively.

A further breakdown of reported murder cases by the state showed that Plateau had the highest number with 230 cases.

Other states reported the following: Taraba had 155, Kaduna, 139; Borno, 99; Kebbi, 91; Edo, 79; Zamfara, 73; Oyo, 64; Enugu, 60; Benue, 52; Niger, 48; Katsina, 46; FCT, 43; Imo, 38; Osun, 38; Abia, 36; Kano, 35; Lagos, 35; Sokoto, 33; Kogi, 32; Gombe, 30; Adamawa, 29; Ondo, 25; and Akwa Ibom 24.

In addition, Anambra recorded 21 murder cases in 2023, followed by Yobe with 18, Bayelsa and Nasarawa each with 17, Delta with 16, and Bauchi, Ebonyi, Kwara, and Rivers each with 14. Ogun reported 12 cases, and Cross River had 11.

Additionally, the geo-political distribution of reported kidnapping cases showed the following: the North-West had 759 cases, the North Central had 476 cases, the North-East had 408 cases, the South-South had 216 cases, the South East had 191 cases, and the South-West had the fewest with 99 cases.

Breaking it down by state, Kaduna reported 310 kidnapping cases, Taraba had 200, Zamfara 160, Katsina 133, FCT 132, Plateau 119, Enugu 99, Edo 97, Kogi 97, Kebbi 84, Gombe 74, Borno 62, Sokoto 50, Delta 47, Nasarawa 43, Niger 41, Rivers 39, Adamawa 39, Imo 33, Kwara 33, Abia 32, Osun 30, and Bauchi 22.

Others are Ondo, 20; Kano, 17; Anambra, 17; Cross River, 17; Oyo, 16; Ogun,15; Ekiti, 14; Benue, 11; Yobe, 11; Ebonyi,10; Bayelsa, nine; Akwa Ibom, seven; Jigawa, five and Lagos, four.

For recorded robbery cases, the South-West had the highest number for the year under review with 107 cases. The North Central recorded 54 cases, the South-South had 53, the South-East reported 51, the North-West had 29, and the North-East had 26.

According to the distribution of recorded robbery cases by state, Lagos recorded the highest number with 32 cases, followed by Oyo with 31, FCT with 22, Enugu with 17, Abia, 17;  Osun, 15; Rivers, 15; Plateau 14, Kaduna 14, Edo 14, Ogun 13, Delta 11

Ekiti 11, Taraba 10, Gombe 10, Imo eight, and Kano eight.

Others are Anambra eight, Niger seven, Benue six, Ondo five, Akwa Ibom five, Bayelsa five, Kwara four, Adamawa three, Cross River three, Kebbi two, Katsina two, Sokoto two, Yobe two, Zamfara, Kogi, Bauchi, and Ebonyi had one apeice.

A security expert, Oladele Fajana, highlighted that kidnapping was the most reported crime due to its lucrative nature in the country.

He urged the government to ensure that punishments for such crimes serve as an effective deterrent to checkmate the crime.

He said, “The number is a reflection of what we have in society. Armed robbery which used to be lucrative has lost its place to kidnapping and that explains why it is rampant in the country. It is also saddening to see that murder cases were on the rise last year. I think the police with this data have their work well cut out for them.

Also, there should be a stiffer punishment for crimes in the country to serve as a deterrent.”