July 05, 2025 09:47 am (IST)
Follow us:
UN concerned by recent wave of attacks in northeast Nigeria
New York, May 10 (IBNS): The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday it is alarmed at the recent wave of attacks on civilians in north-east Nigeria which has led to population displacement both inside the country and into neighbouring States.
“The brutality and frequency of these attacks is unprecedented,” Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
“The past two months have seen multiple kidnappings and deaths, creating population displacement both inside Nigeria and into neighbouring countries,” he added.
Edwards said that refugees and internally displaced people alike are reporting acts of extreme violence, and show clear signs of distress and fear. Some have witnessed friends or family members being randomly singled out and killed in the streets.
“People speak of homes and fields being burned to the ground, with villages completely razed, or grenades being launched into crowded markets killing people and livestock,” he stated.
“There is mention of people being caught in fighting between insurgents and the armed forces, arbitrary arrests under the suspicion of belonging to insurgent groups, and other serious alleged crimes including, reportedly, summary executions.”
Terrorized students who had survived attacks on their schools in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have told UNHCR how they saw friends being killed or kidnapped. The abduction of over 200 girls from a school in Chibok in Borno state last month is just one in a series of similar kidnappings from schools in north-east Nigeria in recent months.
Edwards noted that next week will mark the first anniversary of the Nigerian Government’s declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. In all, 250,000 people are now internally displaced, according to the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
In addition, some 61,000 others have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Most are Niger nationals who were living in Nigeria, but 22,000 are Nigerians who have been made refugees by the crisis.
(This 14-year-old boy was shot when gunmen attacked his school in Nigeria, killing three of his friends. His parents will take him away from the area. UN Photo/Isaac Billy)
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Ukraine conflict: Russia launches major attack on Kyiv, 23 injured
Fri, Jul 04 2025
UN chief ‘appalled’ by worsening Gaza crisis
Fri, Jul 04 2025
Russia recognises Taliban-run government in Afghanistan
Fri, Jul 04 2025
Israel agrees to '60-day' Gaza ceasefire deal: Trump
Wed, Jul 02 2025
Trump threatens to slash NYC funding if Mamdani does not 'behave'
Tue, Jul 01 2025
Canada directs Chinese firm Hikvision to cease operation due to national security concerns
Mon, Jun 30 2025
Antonio Guterres welcomes peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda
Sun, Jun 29 2025