Niger Delta Weekly Update for February 27 – March 05, 2022

This edition of the weekly update spotlights armed robbery in the Niger Delta with a focus on the growing threat of bank robbery in the region. Bank robbery – including coordinated armed attacks and burgling of commercial banks and bullion vans – is increasingly becoming prevalent and deadly in the Niger Delta. According to data (see map below), more than 25 incidents of armed robbery and over 70 related fatalities were reported in the Niger Delta between January 2018 and December 2021. Recent data indicates an escalation of bank robbery in the region. In January 2022, for instance, armed robbers reportedly attacked a bullion van belonging to a commercial bank and carted away unspecified amount of money along the Ughelli-Asaba expressway in Otor-Owhe community in Isoko North LGA, Delta State. More recently, on February 24, 2022, a gang of robbers reportedly attacked four commercial banks simultaneously, blew up their security doors with dynamites, killed seven persons including two security personnel, and stole an undisclosed sum of money in Uromi community, Esan North-East LGA, Edo State.