Southern Nigeria has recorded the deadliest mob lynching in the country in the last four years, reports have revealed.

In data collated by SBM Intelligence, from January 2019 until the violence in Dei Dei, Abuja on May 18, 2022, there have been 279 reported incidents of mob violence which left 391 people dead.

In terms of fatalities, over the period covered in this report, the South has proven deadlier than the North with 223 deaths of the 391, although the bloodiest incidents were both in the North, first when residents of Majifa in Kankara LGA of Katsina State took matters into their own hands and lynched bandits who had previously attacked them in April 2021, killing 33 and in Tangaza in Tangaza LGA of Sokoto State in September 2021 where 13 people were killed after residents tracked down and killed bandits.

In terms of frequency of lynching, SBM Intelligence said that in the last four years, the South has a far higher frequency with 197 of the 279 incidents reported, two and half times the North’s 82. This means that the South is more dangerous than the North as lynching is more likely to occur in the South.

Lynching in the South are likelier to be for economic reasons and tend to have victims in the low single digits while, except for two cases, one in the South had up to eight victims while, except for two cases, one in Oyo and the other in Rivers both in 2020, none of the incidents in the South had up to eight victims in a single incident.

The report showed that the South West is by far the most violent geographical zone with regard to mob justice, as over the period under review; there have been 100 incidents or 36 per cent of the total. In all regions, incidents of mob justice have increased in frequency in the last two years, indicating that more Nigerians are losing trust and respect for state adjudication and prefer to resort to extrajudicial means for restitution.

Number of incidents: North West, 30, North East, 13, North Central, 39, South West, 100, South-South, 64 and South East, 22. The data for the number of casualties shows the North West recorded 100 casualties, South West, 98, South-South, 82, South East, 43, North Central, 42 and North East, 26. The total number of incidents is 279 and the total number of casualties is 391. (Daily Sun)

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