5 Major attacks that shook Nigeria in 2018

Boko Haram attacks and banditry up country, herdsmen attacks in the middle belt region ritual activities in the south; these incidents came with fear, sorry and misery.

Here are five major attacks that shook Nigeria in 2018.

Benue/Plateau killings

Pall bearers carry coffins of people killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Benue state AFP

Residents of Benue state, north central Nigeria, would never forget 2018.

The year began with the killing of villagers in Logo and Guma local governments by suspected herdsmen.

Remains of 73 persons who lost their lives were laid to rest in mass graves after a funeral service by the Benue state government in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ignored President Buhari’s order to relocate to Benue state pending restoration of peace to all affected areas. The IGP was said to have left Makurdi same day of visiting the affected areas.

Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, with President Muhammadu Buhari ece-auto-gen

Just as Benue was mourning, Plateau witnessed series of attacks in Barkin-Ladi local government area. President Buhari would order the deployment of military personnel to the affected areas.

(cat race) was flagged off to restore calm to all troubled areas.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, the two priests, Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, were also killed during a mass along with 17 worshippers when attackers invaded St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ukpor-Mbalom in Ayar-Mbalom community of Gwer East LGA.

A few days later, arrests were made by the combined team of military forces. Peace was restored to the area.

Suspected mastermind behind herdsmen killings in Benue State identified as Alhaji Laggi ece-auto-gen

While normalcy seem to have returned to the area, persons displaced by the attacks are still living under unhealthy conditions in internally displaced persons’ camps in Daudu and other parts of the state.

Dapchi

On Monday, February 19, 2018, a faction of the Boko Haram terrorist sect invaded the Government Secondary School Dapchi, Yobe state, kidnapping 110 girls and a boy.

A total of 113 children were seized from the school in Dapchi, in northeastern Nigeria on February 19 ece-auto-gen

The insurgents were said to have arrived the school with buses and Hilux vans which they used to transport the girls out of town.

After days of negotiations, 105 Dapchi schoolgirls and a boy were released leaving behind Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl who refused to renounce her faith.

Leah Sharibu in Boko Haram captivity ece-auto-gen

As negotiations for her release continue, Nigerians are worried about the fate of so many young girls in Dapchi who the insurgents warned, sternly, never to return to school.

Metele

On Thursday, November 18, 2018, Boko Haram terrorists overran a 157 Task Battalion in Metele, village in Guzamala local government area of Borno State, in an attack carting away large cache of arms and military equipment after leaving the base strewn with the corpses of dozens of soldiers.

Nigerian soldiers have been fighting the Boko Haram insurgency since 2019 ece-auto-gen

President Muhammadu Buhari who was shocked by the news immediately ordered the Defence Minister, Mansur Dan-Aliand meet with stakeholders in the Lake Chad region.

Some soldiers who survived said over 200 of their colleagues died during the attack due to lack of sophisticated weapons needed to battle the insurgents.

The military authorities, however, said 23 soldiers died during the attack. Despite huge budgetary allocations, soldiers' welfare remains a major source of concern to those at the frontlines.

Aid workers

Red Cross worker Hauwa Liman killed by Boko Haram ece-auto-gen

On Thursday, March 1, 2018, Boko Haram terrorists abducted three aid workers with International Committee of the Red Cross in an IDP camp in Borno state.

After months in captivity, the insurgents killed Saifura Khorsa, one of the nurses.

On September 17, 2018, Hauwa Liman

The Boko Haram terrorists have also said that Alice Loksha and Leah Sharibu would be their "slaves for life". A disturbing signal that the war against terrorism may not have been completely won.

Zamfara killings

A resident inspects a burnt out house in Kizara village attacked by bandits who killed 48 people while early May saw dozens abducted in just two days on a road near the Zamfara state border ece-auto-gen

For months now, bandits have invaded Zamfara communities killing dozens of villagers with many injured.

Governor Abdulaziz Yari had revealed that 2,385 people were killed by bandits in the state from 2011 to date.

Senator Kabiru Marafa had blamed the killings on Yari’s leadership style; the governor has refuted these claims.

While the attacks seem to have reduced, citizens in these villages still leave in fear.