The emerging trend of violence and assaults amidst the COVID-19 lockdown has become worrisome in Africa countries While African governments continue to enforce lockdowns to help reduce the casualties from the novel virus that is causing global panic, a number of reports suggest that more casualties have resulted from the measures adopted to checkmate the virus rather than the virus itself. For instance,
The Economist reported some African governments are enforcing the lockdown brutally. A similar pattern of assault, arrest, intimidation, and harassment by armed security personnel have been reported in other parts of the continent. In fact, fierce enforcement of lockdowns is reportedly stirring resentment in Africa.
Law enforcement measures in Nigeria has an expanded negative outlook. While casualties have been caused by the involvement of security personnel who are enforcing the lockdown, panic, citizen’s unrest, robbery, and perhaps food insecurity have also contributed to the poor security outlook during the ongoing lockdown. To compound the situation, the armed insurgency that has been affecting the Northern part of the country has also continued amidst the lockdown. An alarming trend of the circulation of falsehood and fake news on security has also been observed and this may have an overbearing negative effect on public and communal peace thereby dampening the overall security situation.
To allay some of the general fear in the public and to provide insights on the true security situation in Nigeria, DATAPHYTE has committed some of its resources to track and to create a timeline on the various reports of violence in the country during this lockdown period. This is with the hope that the timeline will provide a common ground for the assessment of the security situation, help the course of the policy, and increase the overall security outlook of the country amidst the pandemic.
Each timeline shown below will be continuously updated to provide a comprehensive picturesque of the situation.
TIMELINE: Reports of Brutality by Security Operatives During Lockdown
TIMELINE: Reports of Theft, Armed Robbery and Militia Attacks During Lockdown
TIMELINE: Reports of Domestic Violence During Lockdown