Attacks carried out by jihadist groups and criminal gangs have claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people over the past two years across several states in central and northern Nigeria, according to a new report by Amnesty International published today.
“Nigerian President Bola Tinubu must fulfil his promises to the Nigerian people and urgently address the resurgence of the country’s endemic security crisis,” said Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty’s Nigeria office.
“The recent escalation in attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups shows that the government’s current measures are simply not working,” he added.
Since Tinubu took office in May 2023, at least 10,200 people have been killed in the states of Benue, Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto, and Zamfara, the NGO reports.
The worst tolls have been recorded in Benue and Plateau, both located in central Nigeria’s so-called “Middle Belt,” with approximately 6,900 and 2,600 deaths respectively.
While northern states have long been plagued by violence from jihadist groups and armed gangs, Amnesty notes that attacks have escalated in recent months, and violence has increasingly gripped the central region.
In central Nigeria, violence is rooted in conflicts over land and water between farming communities and nomadic herders, often inflamed by ethnic and religious tensions.
A string of massacres left more than 150 people dead in April alone in the states of Benue and Plateau.
Amnesty also highlights that hundreds of villages have been attacked, burned, and abandoned by residents.
Testimonies gathered during the NGO’s investigation describe summary executions, mass forced displacements- particularly of women and children- and the destruction of essential infrastructure, including schools, clinics, and wells.
In certain areas, especially in Zamfara state, where over 630 villages have been looted in recent years, armed groups now impose taxes on villagers.
More than 500,000 people have been displaced in Benue and Plateau alone, many of them multiple times, according to the report.
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