Research by the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) has revealed that violent conflicts and insecurity drastically slash household spending by up to 14 per cent and trap families in chronic poverty in northern Nigeria.

Entitled, “Insecurity, Livelihoods and Welfare in Northern Nigeria,” the study was jointly conducted over one year by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) of the Institute of Development Studies, United Kingdom, and dRPC, with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Launching the report in a webinar yesterday, the organisers urged the federal government to harmonise peacebuilding with economic empowerment to stem the trend from spiralling.

Presenting the data, CPAN Deputy Director, Dr Vidya Diwakar, explained that the study tracked three distinct conflict pathways using national survey datasets and extensive qualitative fieldwork.

According to him, in the North-East, Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency caused the most severe long-term damage, reducing household expenditure by eight to 14 per cent, while in the North-Central, farmer-herder clashes hit near-poor households the hardest, triggering a 14 per cent drop in expenditure.

The report further revealed that banditry and kidnapping in the North-West caused spending losses of four to 11 per cent among moderately poor households.

The study identified livelihood diversification across farm and off-farm enterprises as the single most effective shield against conflict-induced poverty, though it found a critical gap in community adaptation.

Meanwhile, armed bandits have reportedly killed six farmers and kidnapped an unconfirmed number of residents in the Gora community of Maradun Local Council of Zamfara State, with others said to have sustained various degrees of injuries during the terrorists’ attack.

According to sources, military troops deployed at the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Faru received information on June 12 that terrorists were attacking villagers in their farmlands at Gora and had swiftly mobilised for a counter, but the bandits had fled into the forest before their arrival.

In the Rantya community in Jos South Local Council of Plateau State, three persons were reported killed last night by suspected Fulani attackers.

Residents, who pleaded anonymity, said the attackers came shooting indiscriminately, claiming that two of their boys were missing, but that the residents told them that they were not aware of such happenings.

The sources said the Neighbourhood Watch police showed up immediately and chased them back, but they went firing sporadically, and later, reinforced at night and killed two of the vigilantes and one other person.

Also, no fewer than nine persons were reportedly killed and 11 others injured during an attack on Wednesday on the Angwan Magaji community in Kauru Local Council Area of Kaduna State, which borders AnguwanMagaji in Plateau State, as confirmed in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the Irigwe Youth Movement, Joseph ChuduYonkpa.

Also, there was fear and commotion yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, following the rumoured presence of bandits in Government Girls Secondary School in Oke-Oyi, Ilorin West Local Council.

However, the state police command has dismissed the report, with the Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, describing it as unfounded and misleading, following an on-the-site mobilisation by the Oke-Oyi Police Division. (The Guardian)

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