The civil society joint action
committee, a coalition of civil society organisations in the country, has
warned that 20 states may experience electoral violence in 2019.
The CSOs said there has been a
weekly occurrence of violence in the country most of which, are not reported.
Addressing journalists in Abuja
on Friday, Chidi Odinkalu, senior team manager for the Africa programme of the
Open Society Justice Initiative, said the violence across the states is a
source of serious concern.
He added that the CSOs are
alerting relevant stakeholders in the affected states to be on the alert.
Quoting Nigeria Watch, Odinkalu
said: “Between June 2006 and May 2014, there were about 915 cases of election
violence resulting in about 3,934 deaths; the north-central recorded about 1463
deaths; 911 deaths were recorded in north-west; 644 deaths in the south-south,
while 319 and 386 deaths in the Northeast and south-west respectively.”
He added that the affected states
are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Plateau, Bayelsa, Borno, Zamfara, Kaduna, Cross
River, Bauchi, Oyo, Yobe, Benue, Kogi, Nassarawa, Imo, Osun, Ondo and Kano.
He also said: “The insurgency in
the north-east region, the worsening banditry in Zamfara State, the herdsmen
and farmers crises in the Benue state valley, the violent attacks on Shi’ite
Muslims in and around Abuja, resource control violence in the South-south and
south-east regions of the country, the rise in deadly gang and cult activities everywhere,
including the south-west and more, the proliferation of small arms and light
weapons across the country are indication of violence.
“This lethal combination of
unabated violence; access to weapons and Nigeria’s propensity for turbulent and
fiercely contested elections do not augur well for peace in the 2019
elections.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete