The number of victims killed as well as those kidnapped increased from the16 deaths recorded the previous week.
The latest killings occur despite the claim of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, that the military has recorded “great success” in the fight against insecurity across the country.
Victims of last week’s attacks include two top Zamfara officials, the mother of a former Nigerian footballer and 10 military personnel.
On Sunday, gunmen killed the chairman of the Community Development Committee of Choba in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Lawrence Igwe. One other person, Oriji Azu, was also killed in another attack in the area.
They were shot dead in two separate operations carried out by the unidentified gunmen, who forcefully gained entrance into their victims’ houses along Igbogo Road in the Choba community.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the killings.
In Ogun State, residents of Adao community in Alabata, Odeda Local Government Area, were thrown into confusion as a resident was killed by suspected herdsmen.
The 49-year-old farmer, Rafiu Showemimo, was stabbed in the neck by suspected herdsmen on his way home from the farm around 12 noon.
The police announced the arrest of three suspects afterwards.
– Also on Sunday, armed bandits attacked Kirtawa village in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State, killing 10 people and injuring five others.
The spokesman for the state police command, Gambo Isah, confirmed the violent attack, adding that five vehicles and four motorcycles were set ablaze while an unspecified number of cows were also rustled.
The Zamfara State Director of Budget, Hamza Salihu, was on Sunday kidnapped while his deputy, Kabiru Ismail, was murdered. They were attacked near Kachia in Kaduna State while on an official trip to Nasarawa.
This was revealed in a statement by Yusuf Idris, the Director-General, Press Affairs to Governor Bello Matawalle, in Gusau.
On Monday, Ogere Siasia, the mother of former Super Eagles forward and coach, Samson Siasia, was abducted again on Monday.
The incident occurred at about 2:00 a.m. in Odoni, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, according to her son and the footballer’s brother, Dennis Siasia.
Two others were also said abducted alongside the 76-year-old woman, who had been kidnapped in the past. While the kidnappers are demanding N70 million, the police said they are yet to know her whereabouts.
An operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad shot dead a cleaner identified as Francis on Monday on Ajisegiri Street, in the Ilupeju area of Lagos State.
The policeman and his team members were reported to have shot at a group of hemp smokers when the victim was killed.
Also on Tuesday, Ten Turkish sailors on a cargo ship were kidnapped for ransom by armed men off the coast of Nigeria.
The shipping company, Kadioglu Denizcilik, on Tuesday said in a statement that the vessel was attacked when the pirates boarded the ship on its way from Cameroon to the Ivory Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, PressTV reported.
Suspected armed bandits killed one Felix Akanbi, a Naval Warrant Officer, along the Benin-Sagamu Expressway in Edo State.
The gunmen, brandishing sophisticated weapons, also kidnapped eight passengers travelling in a commercial bus that departed from Akwa-Ibom State heading to Lagos en route Edo State on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen killed two soldiers and abducted an expatriate at a road construction site in Ukanafun council area of Akwa Ibom.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon as the expatriate engineer working with Al Madal construction company was inspecting a road construction project awarded by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
On Saturday, there was pandemonium in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, when the people of Jimrawa village in Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area took the body of a resident killed by bandits to the Government House. Their aim was to let the government know that the peace dialogue initiated to end banditry was not working.
The sight of the villagers, who rode on several motorbikes to the Government House, made many people in Gusau to run for their lives, thinking there was a breakdown of security.
The spokespersons of the community, Muntari Abdullahi and Muhammadu Sani, told newsmen.
