Tabitha Siman, a survivor of an attack at her home, says life is not worth living after her twin daughters, husband, and co-wife were killed during an attack at her home.
Siman lives in southern Kaduna in Nigeria, where the impact of kidnapping in the region hit the headlines when bandits attacked a train heading for Abuja, killing eight and kidnapping 168. Many months later and after about USD 13 million in ransom money was paid, all were released. But the notorious rail incident is not an isolated incident. In the past year, Kaduna has seen more than 1800 deaths due to insecurity, with attacks being reported almost weekly.
"We started hearing sporadic gunshots. I shouted at the top of my voice, calling everyone to scamper for safety. I shouted the Fulani were attacking.""Every other person we knew didn't make it out on time. Here they lie in state in their mass graves." "Nigeria is more divided and polarised than it's ever been. The cleavages and fault-lines of ethnocentrism, sectarianism, sectionalism, parochialism and religious extremism are pushing the country to the brink," Okoli writes."The receding Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast is being substituted by a nexus of banditry and terrorism in the north-west. The north-central is still grappling with the deadly farmer-herder crisis.
In the capital, Kaduna, there has been prolonged political, ethnic and religious violence - some dating back to colonial times when Lord Frederick Lugard, the first governor-general of an amalgamated Nigeria, built the city and encouraged the Muslims to inhabit the north and the Christians the south.
The International Crisis Group says a multipronged approach is needed."Nigeria's federal authorities and state governments in the northwest should work more closely, not only to heal longstanding rifts within communities and curb violence but also to address the structural causes of insecurity in the region. International partners should lend their support and expertise as well."
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