More people were killed by bandits or insurgents in Nigeria in the first half of this year than in all of 2024, according to figures released on Tuesday by Nigeria’s human rights agency.
According to the figures, at least 2,266 people were killed in the first half of 2025, compared to 1,083 in the first half of 2024 and 2,194 for the full year last year. This represents more than a doubling of casualties compared to the same period in 2024, highlighting the worsening security crisis facing Africa’s most populous nation.
The statistics reveal the scale of Nigeria’s security challenges, which span multiple regions and involve different types of armed groups. Nigeria’s military has been stretched thin, fighting a multi-front war against Boko Haram and other insurgencies in the northeast, banditry and kidnappings in the northwest, herder attacks in the central states and secessionists in the southeast.
The situation has worsened lately, with 606 people killed last month alone, including in attacks by gunmen on the Yelewata and Dauda communities in central Benue state, where around 200 people were killed. This single month’s death toll represents more than a quarter of all deaths recorded in the first half of 2024.
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Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission Tony Ojukwu, disclosing the figures during a presentation in the capital Abuja, called for urgent and decisive action from the government. He emphasised the human cost behind the statistics, reminding officials that each number represents a real person with family and community connections.
“These were not mere figures on a report; they were fathers, mothers, children, and breadwinners; families torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and futures extinguished in moments of senseless brutality,” Ojukwu said.
The violence affects communities across Nigeria in different ways. In the northeast, groups like Boko Haram continue their insurgency that has lasted over a decade. In the northwest and north-central regions, armed bandits carry out raids on villages, kidnapping residents for ransom and stealing livestock. The central states face conflicts between farmers and herders over land and water resources, whilst the southeast deals with separatist movements.
Whilst killings have increased dramatically, the agency reported 857 people abducted in the first half of 2025, though this was a decline from 1,461 in the same period last year. This suggests that whilst kidnapping incidents may have decreased, the violence associated with other forms of attacks has become more deadly.
The security forces themselves have become targets of the violence. The report also noted a trend of attacks against law enforcement and local security forces, with more than 17 soldiers killed in Kaduna and Niger States and over 40 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force killed in the northwestern Zamfara state.
