8,372 people killed in North in 2021- Broadcast media owners

The Northern Broadcast Media Owners Association (NBMOA) yesterday said 8,372 people were killed in the north in 2021.

The acting chairman of the association, Abdullahi Yelwa, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja.

He also said there were 10.5 million outof-school children and 2.7 million internally displaced persons in Nigeria.

He said the association invited all aspirants seeking political office across all the political parties to come up with clear policy prescriptions for the remediation of the challenges facing the nation.

“Here in the North, we’re daily confronted by a unique set of existential challenges. The scourge of banditry, terrorism, Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs), drug abuse, rural poverty, out-of-school children, youth unemployment, begging and the threat of hunger, have become epidemic that have defied solutions.

“These are the issues that should therefore be at the centre of political discuss. The attention of any political leader seeking the votes of the northern electorates should therefore be focused on these issues. For the purpose of clarity, let’s review some depressing statistics:

“A data consulting firm had revealed that no fewer than 8,372 people lost their lives to security challenges in 2021. Today, an average of 14 people are killed every day.

“Between 2018 and 2020, an average of 21.4 percent of the Nigerian population experienced hunger. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), revealed that 14.4 Percent of Nigerians engage in drug abuse, higher than the global average of 11 percent.”