Nigeria crisis
Newly arrived refugees from Nigeria at the registration centre in Minawao refugee camp. The camp was established in 2013 in response to the influx of Nigerian refugees during the Boko Haram crisis.
When their town was attacked by insurgents, these women fled through the bush. Terrified, they headed west and eventually made it across the Cameroonian border. But not all of their group made it. Many were swept away by dangerous rivers or killed by harsh conditions en route.
Photo: © UNHCR/Caroline Irby
These women are amongst over 3.7 million displaced Nigerians who are struggling to survive after being forced from their homes. Please support them with lifesaving aid today.
Shelter
for families who’ve fled with nothing.
Essential supplies
like mattresses, blankets and kitchenware.
Protection
especially of children, women and the elderly.
What’s happening in Nigeria?
Violent insurgents in north-eastern Nigeria have internally displaced over 3.6 million people and driven many over the border into neighbouring countries. Those who remain risk grave violations of human rights, widespread sexual violence and suicide bombings.
UNHCR is working hard to protect and shelter displaced families, provide them with lifesaving aid and help them recover from what they’ve been through.
Can you tell us more about the flooding?
Devastating floods across Nigeria have displaced hundreds of thousands, shut down transport lines and destroyed thousands of hectares of farmlands just before the harvest season. Many of those affected had already been forced to flee their homes by conflict and the impacts of climate change.
UNHCR is on the ground in Borno State and across Nigeria delivering critical aid like tarpaulin sheets to help displaced families build makeshift shelters and shield themselves from the ongoing rain.
How long has the Nigerian crisis been going on?
The Boko Haram insurgency began here in 2013. In 2014, violent attacks started to spill over Nigeria’s borders into Cameroon, Chad and Niger – drawing them into this devastating regional conflict.
Where are Nigerian families fleeing to?
Many families have crossed the border into the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, resulting in more than 380,000 Nigerian refugees across the region – as well as 3.6 million displaced people inside Nigeria.
What other problems are Nigerian families facing?
Families are battling hunger and malnutrition, since the conflict has resulted in widespread food insecurity. Despite all the efforts of governments and humanitarian aid, millions of people are still going hungry in the Lake Chad Basin region.
Where is UNHCR working?
UNHCR is helping displaced families in Nigeria – as well as working in neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad to improve protection, help refugees claim asylum and ensure they’re not forced to return home against their will.
Where can I access the latest data and reports?
Nigeria Operations – for latest on UNHCR’s relief work to protect displaced people inside Nigeria.
Nigeria Situation Portal – for latest updates on the crisis overall, including UNHCR situation reports, funding requirements and UNHCR’s support for neighbouring countries taking in refugees from Nigeria.
Did you know we’re providing vital psycho-social support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the region?
Goussam Koko is a Nigerian refugee working in a collective vegetable garden in Sayam Forage camp, Niger.
With the University of Diffa and partner APBE, UNHCR has set up an agricultural centre inside the Sayam Forage refugee camp. So far, 125 refugees, returned and host families have been trained and practice market gardening and fish farming activities. Extraction kits have been donated to groups in Sayam Forage to increase their revenues.
Nigerian refugee Jamilla Oumaru, 25, carries wood to fire the artisanal oven in the women’s collective building in Garin Kaka, a UNHCR-supported ‘opportunity village’ located 22 kilometres from Maradi city in south-central Niger. Jamilla leads the collective of 20 refugee and local women, who work together to produce peanut oil from ground nuts.
Niger’s second-largest city, Maradi, is located 47 kilometres from the Nigerian border. Since May 2019, the Maradi region has had an influx of refugees from north-western Nigeria, fleeing killings, abductions and looting by Nigerian non-state armed groups. 18,000 refugees have been relocated to three UNHCR-supported ‘opportunity villages’, each located away from the border and next to an existing village in Niger. This aims to provide refugees with a more sustainable alternative to living in camps and contributes to the development of rural areas that lack basic infrastructure and services, such as schools and health centres.