Nigeria faces significant human rights issues, especially in the North-Central and South-South regions says the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),
In March 2025, Nigeria recorded 1,580 human rights violations. The North-Central region had the highest number with 468 cases.
In December 2024, the South-South region reported an even larger number of complaints of 104,912, more than any northern state for the first time. By the first three months of 2025, the NHRC had received a total of 621,414 complaints across the country, showing a steady increase each month.
These numbers show that many Nigerians are aware of their rights and are speaking up, but they also reveal how serious the problems are. The violations include killings, kidnappings, domestic violence, child abandonment, and violations of economic and social rights. The North-Central and South-South regions are the worst affected.
This story looks at why these regions have so many problems, how climate change makes things worse, the differences between the regions, and the challenges faced by displaced persons.
Why So Many Human Rights Violations in North-Central and South-South Nigeria
Violence and Conflict: The North-Central region, often called the Middle Belt, has been troubled by violent conflicts for many years. These fights are mostly between herders and farmers who belong to different ethnic and religious groups. The violence has killed many people and forced thousands to leave their homes.
For example, between December 2023 and February 2024, armed groups attacked several communities in Plateau State, killing about 1,333 people, including 260 children. On Christmas Day 2023, an attack lead to the death of 140 people in the same state. In Kaduna State, nearly 400 people were kidnapped in March 2024, including 287 schoolchildren from a town called Kuriga. These attacks have disrupted schools, farms, and the daily lives of people.
In the South-South region, the issues are different but just as serious. Here, violence is linked to fights over oil resources. Oil companies have damaged the environment by polluting farmlands and fishing waters, making it hard for local people to earn a living. Some groups have turned to violence, attacking oil facilities and kidnapping people to demand justice and a fair share of the oil wealth. In April 2025, two armed groups-the Niger Delta and Bakassi Liberation Army (L.A.N.D. & B) and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on a major pipeline leading to a terminal in Bayelsa State.
Weak Government and Institutions: Both regions suffer because government institutions are weak and often fail to protect people. Security forces like the police and military have been involved in abuses such as unlawful killings and torture.
For example, in September 2024, a Nigerian Air Force strike in Kaduna State accidentally killed 23 villagers, including children. Such incidents show how civilians often suffer during military operations. Courts are also slow and sometimes corrupt, so many criminals go unpunished. The NHRC also reports that vigilante groups and security agencies commit many abuses, showing problems in law enforcement.
Poverty and Economic Hardship: Many people in these regions live in poverty, which makes them more vulnerable to abuse. Inflation in Nigeria rose above 34% in 2024, and food prices went up by more than 40%. This has made it hard for many families to afford basic needs.
In Borno State, floods and food shortages caused over 1,600 children to suffer from malnutrition between May and June 2024. In the South-South, oil pollution has destroyed jobs and made many people poor, even though the region is rich in oil.
Ethnic and Religious Tensions: In the Middle Belt, ethnic and religious differences make conflicts worse. Herders and farmers fight over land and power, which has led to many deaths and forced many people to flee their homes.
Displacement: Violence and natural disasters have forced millions of people to leave their homes. By April 2024, over 1.3 million people were displaced in the North-Central and Northwest regions. Many live in poor conditions with little access to food, shelter, or medical care. In Borno State, floods blocked aid from reaching 27,000 people, making their situation even worse.
How Climate Change Makes Violations Worse
Climate Change Increases Competition Over Scarce Resources, Fueling Violence: In North-Central Nigeria, prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall, and desertification have drastically reduced access to water and fertile land. In North-Central Nigeria, this scarcity increases clashes between herders and farmers competing for grazing land and farmland. For example, in Plateau State, violent attacks linked to resource competition killed over 1,300 people between December 2023 and February 2024. These violent conflicts violate the rights to life, security, and shelter, and disrupt livelihoods.
Floods Destroy Homes and Force People to Move: In the South-South, especially the Niger Delta, rising sea levels and frequent flooding have submerged villages and farmlands. When floodwaters wash away homes and crops, people have no choice but to leave their communities. In 2023, floods in Kogi State flooded over 61,000 hectares of land, ruining crops and forcing thousands to leave. In Borno State, floods blocked aid from reaching 27,000 people as earlier mentioned. When people lose their homes and land, their rights to housing, food, and humanitarian aid are broken.
Pollution and Climate Damage Destroy Livelihoods: Environmental degradation caused by decades of oil pollution is compounded by climate change impacts such as floods and erosion in Nigeria’s South-South region, especially in the Niger Delta. In 2024, Nigeria recorded over 589 oil spills, spilling about 19,000 barrels (3 million litres) of crude oil-roughly the amount carried by 95 oil tanker trucks. These spills have long polluted farmlands and fishing waters, destroying the main sources of food and income for many communities.
Climate change worsens this damage by causing floods and erosion that further ruin the environment. Floodwaters spread oil pollution over larger areas, washing away fertile soil and killing fish stocks, as seen in Bayelsa State where fishing communities struggle with declining catches. This environmental destruction violates people’s rights to food, health, and a safe environment.
Climate Change Forces Migration and More Conflicts: Climate change is forcing many people in northern Nigeria to move south because drought and desertification make it hard to find water and pasture for their animals. This movement of herders into southern states like Bayelsa and Cross River causes clashes with farmers who already use the land for crops. These fights have led to deaths and forced many people to leave their homes, breaking their rights to life, safety, and property.
According to a World Bank report, by 2050, up to 9.4 million Nigerians could be forced to move within the country because of climate change.
Differences in Human Rights Issues Between North-Central and South-South
While both regions report high levels of human rights violations, the nature and drivers differ:
- North-Central Region: Violence is primarily conflict-driven, involving communal clashes, herder-farmer violence, banditry, and kidnappings. Security forces’ abuses, including extrajudicial killings, are reported. Economic collapse due to conflict disrupts livelihoods, leading to food insecurity and poverty. Education is also severely affected, with many children kidnapped or out of school.
- South-South Region: Violations are closely linked to environmental degradation from oil exploration. Militancy and resource control conflicts disrupt security and economic activities. Despite resource wealth, poverty and lack of infrastructure limit access to basic services such as healthcare and clean water.
Economic Rights Issues in Borno, Katsina, Zamfara (North-Central and Northeast)
- Conflict and Insecurity Disrupt Livelihoods: The ongoing insurgency and banditry in these states have severely damaged agriculture and markets. According to the Nigeria Food Security Outlook (Feb–Sept 2024), conflict-related disruptions have destroyed farms and limited market access, leading to widespread food insecurity and loss of income in Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, and neighboring states. For example, in Borno State, insurgent activities have halted farming on over 400 hectares of wheat land, forcing Nigeria to increase wheat imports from $2.4 million in 2020 to $6.2 million in 2021.
- Kidnappings and Violence Impacting Farmers: In 2024 alone, over 332 farmers were killed by bandits and insurgents across these states, including Boko Haram’s attack in Borno on January 29, 2024, which killed 13 farmers. Bandit attacks in Zamfara and Niger states caused dozens of deaths and kidnappings, further destabilizing food production.
- Malnutrition and Disease Outbreaks: The Nigeria Nutrition Sector reported that admissions of children under five with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states were nearly 70% higher in early 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching record levels in six years. Cholera outbreaks and other diseases have compounded the humanitarian crisis.
- Economic Losses: The UNDP estimates Boko Haram’s violence has cost Nigeria’s economy about $9 billion due to destruction and lost productivity. The agriculture sector, vital for food security, has been severely affected by insecurity.
