Thousands of people have been abducted by bandits and other criminal groups in Nigeria in the two months of 2025, prompting a need for emergency response by tbe President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
This was contained in a new report released by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), which warns of a deepening security crisis driven by armed jihadist groups operating across the country.
The report, published in February 2026, noted that alongside the abductions, several Christian and Muslim communities were attacked, describing the violence as part of a broader pattern of extremist attacks spreading across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to the group, the violence intensified particularly in the North-Central region, followed by the North-East and North-West.
Southern states — especially parts of the South-South, South-East and South-West — were also affected.
In the first 55 days of 2026 (January 1–February 25), the organisation documented attacks by multiple armed factions are operating in alliance, including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Ansaru, and Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), alongside armed bandit networks and Fulani-linked militant groups.
Covering the period from July 2009 to February 2026, Intersociety estimates that thousands of civilians have been killed, including Christians and Muslims.
At least 400 churches were attacked between December 2024 and February 2026, the report noted.
The organisation further claims that more than a thousand of Christian clerics — including priests, pastors, and nuns — have been abducted since 2009.
The report estimates that violence linked to extremist groups has generated millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) since 2009, many of them from Nigeria’s northern states.
The report partly read, “Independent findings also indicated that Fulani terror groups have accounted for about 65% of Islamic terror attacks in Nigeria especially since June 2015. All the Islamic terror groups in the country are also independently found to be working in alliance using the canopy of Boko Haram and ISWAP as their “Lead-Esprit De Jihad”.
“The tsunamic Islamic jihadist attacks in Nigeria since July 2009, also generated no fewer than, independently speaking, estimated 10million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North-Central, North-East and North-West including Southern Kaduna.”
Several northern communities, particularly in Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and parts of Borno State, were described as heavily affected by repeated raids, land seizures, and mass displacement.
Beyond Nigeria, the report situates the crisis within broader insecurity across Africa, naming armed groups such as Al-Shabaab in East Africa and the Allied Democratic Forces operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
It warns that extremist violence is spreading across parts of the Sahel, Central Africa and East Africa, affecting both Christian and Muslim civilians.
Nigerian authorities have consistently maintained that security forces are making gains against insurgent and bandit groups through military operations and regional cooperation.
However, critics argue that attacks, kidnappings for ransom, and mass casualty incidents persist, particularly in rural communities.
Intersociety in the report by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Criminologist-Researcher and Head noted that extremist groups are “inches away from the doorstep of state power,” if urgent security steps are not taken.
Observers also warn that porous borders, arms trafficking, and weak local governance continue to fuel instability.
As 2026 unfolds, human rights groups are calling for strengthened civilian protection measures, improved intelligence coordination, and expanded humanitarian assistance for displaced communities across Nigeria.See_More…