This edition of the weekly update spotlights growing anti-police insurgency in the Niger Delta. Current data shows a rise in targeted attacks on security personnel in the region. According to data (see map below), targeted violence against the police and other security agencies caused over 200 fatalities in the Niger Delta between January 2020 and March 2021. Recent incidents indicate an upsurge in targeted attacks on security operatives in the Niger Delta, apparently driven by growing anti-police insurgency in south-eastern Nigeria.

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On April 26, 2021, for instance, over 12 security operatives were reportedly killed in a series of coordinated attacks by gunmen at different locations in Rivers State. In one of the incidents, gunmen reportedly killed eight security operatives at different security checkpoints along Omagwa/Isiokpo/Elele-Owerri express-way in Ikwerre LGA. The attacks in Rivers State are generally believed to be a spillover of the ongoing anti-police insurgency in the South-eastern region, particularly the recent killing of a separatist militia commander by security forces in Awomama town in Oru East LGA, Imo State.

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