Nigeria’s North-east crisis killed 4,000 civilians last year, UN reports

Nigeria’s long-running conflict in the north-east claimed about 4,000 civilian lives in 2025, a shocking human cost of an insurgency that has stretched into its sixteenth year, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The violence, driven largely by non-state armed groups, killed thousands of civilians in just eight months last year and displaced large numbers of people across the region, OCHA said. Despite years of military operations and humanitarian intervention, insecurity continues to define daily life in much of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

Persistent conflict has cut communities off from their main sources of livelihood, particularly farming. In many parts of Borno State, residents who venture beyond the protective trenches surrounding population centres risk being killed, injured, kidnapped or subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, the UN said.

The breakdown of livelihoods has fuelled severe food insecurity across the north-east. OCHA said women and girls, in their struggle to survive, are often pushed into harmful coping strategies, while young boys are increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups.

As a result, the humanitarian situation remains deep and widespread. Across the three north-eastern states, more than 7.9 million people face serious protection risks, extreme deprivation beyond existing poverty levels, and daily threats to their safety and well-being.

While the overall number of people in need has declined compared with previous years, OCHA warned that the severity and complexity of needs have not eased. Vulnerabilities vary by location, age and displacement status, and are shaped by overlapping pressures including conflict, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, population movements, camp closures, economic hardship and decades of underdevelopment.

Children Most Affected

Children remain the most affected. Together with women, they account for 83% of those in need of humanitarian assistance. Borno is the worst-hit state, with about 3.8 million people requiring support, followed by Adamawa with 2.1 million and Yobe with 1.7 million, according to OCHA.

Humanitarian assistance in 2025 focused largely on life-saving interventions. The UN sought more than $900 million to support 3.6 million people, with major donors such as the European Union and the United States funding health, food, shelter and water services.

Significant funding gaps persisted, however, particularly in health and nutrition, despite efforts to channel more resources through local organisations and link emergency aid to longer-term development.

Agencies including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration led responses across food security, health and protection sectors, operating amid inflationary pressures and ongoing insecurity.

The update comes ahead of the launch of Nigeria’s 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), scheduled for Jan. 22 in Abuja.

According to OCHA, the event will bring together senior government officials, including the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, civil society groups, international partners and members of the diplomatic corps.

“The launch of the 2026 HNRP underscores the need for coordinated action to save and protect lives through humanitarian efforts led by the Nigerian government, with support from national and international partners,” OCHA said.