Children account for an overwhelming 82 per cent of the 9,290 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by Nigeria’s worsening protection crisis across 11 states, according to the October 2025 Human Rights Dashboard released by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Presenting the dashboard in Abuja, the NHRC Executive Secretary, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, described the situation as a deepening humanitarian emergency driven by insecurity, climate shocks and collapsing livelihoods.
He identified Yobe and Benue states as the hardest hit, recording 2,047 and 1,850 IDPs respectively, largely due to herder attacks, insurgent raids and destruction of critical infrastructure.
Dr. Ojukwu, who was represented at the event by the Director of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Department, Mr. Harry Obe, noted that displacement has disproportionately exposed children to hunger, violence, disrupted education and health risks.
Beyond IDPs, the dashboard documented 215 asylum seekers struggling with registration challenges in Taraba and Cross River states, alongside 583 refugees, most of whom are also concentrated in the two states. The report further recorded 472 returnees, with 81 per cent children, many of whom are battling reintegration in still-insecure communities.
According to Dr. Ojukwu, a UNHCR-backed protection project has, since early 2025, reached over 15,000 additional vulnerable individuals, but this progress has been overshadowed by a 58 per cent surge in violations against children, underscoring growing vulnerabilities linked to violence, food insecurity and climate-related shocks.
The NHRC Chief Human Rights Officer disclosed that more than 1,800 human rights violations were recorded during the reporting period. Key concerns included 530 cases of denied access to food and shelter in Benue, Taraba and Kano; 278 restrictions on freedom of movement associated with insecurity in Yobe; 195 incidents of gender-based violence (GBV); and 324 barriers to education threatening children’s futures in Kano and Taraba States.
Despite the grim figures, the Commission reported notable interventions. NHRC field teams resolved 372 cases, referred 1,157 cases to relevant agencies, conducted 104 detention visits reaching 326 detainees, and carried out 331 community outreaches, sensitising 6,551 people on GBV prevention and human rights reporting.
Dr. Ojukwu, who also serves as President of the Network of National Human Rights Institutions in West Africa (NNHRI-WA), lamented persistent operational challenges confronting human rights monitors, including transport shortages, high data costs and security risks. He nevertheless commended their resilience and acknowledged UNHCR’s support amid tightening humanitarian budgets.
To stem the crisis, he urged federal and state governments to domesticate the Kampala Convention, integrate NHRC data into humanitarian response plans, and strengthen security for returnees. He reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to data-driven protection strategies for Nigeria’s estimated 6.7 million displaced persons.
The human rights advocate also called for stronger inter-agency coordination across federal, state and local levels to scale up child protection services, improve responses for GBV survivors, close documentation gaps for asylum seekers and enhance detention oversight.
In a graphic presentation, the Head of Human Rights Monitoring, Dr. Benedict Agu, decried the harsh living conditions faced by IDPs, citing poor nutrition, limited healthcare and widening socio-economic deprivation. Dr. Agu, who is also Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, said NHRC teams conducted awareness programmes and in-depth interviews to better interrogate protection gaps and strengthen humanitarian responses.
He stressed that sustained monitoring, community engagement and evidence-based interventions remain critical to safeguarding the rights and dignity of displaced Nigerians, especially children who continue to bear the brunt of the crisis.
