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Nigeria, with an estimated population of over 216 million people and comprising more than 250 ethnic groups, confronts significant humanitarian-development challenges, especially in its North-east and North-west regions. The federal republic, partitioned into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, faces regional instability, presence of non-state armed groups, escalating intercommunal conflicts, extreme weather events, and precarious socio-economic situation.
Insurgent activities in the north, including conflicts involving Boko Haram’s splinter groups, ethnic groups’ clashes and resurgence of banditry and kidnappings, have led to massive population displacements and heightened humanitarian and protection needs.
As of December 2023, IOM reported a total of 2,305,335 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East and 1,075,893 IDPs in the North-West and North-Central regions.
The lack of economic and livelihood opportunities, marked deterioration in food security, public health emergencies and limited access to essential basic services, have all negatively impacted the well-being and further undermined the resilience of IDPs, returnees, and host communities in Nigeria.
Since 2015, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been actively engaged in addressing humanitarian challenges, making a positive impact in over 30 Local Government Areas across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
DRC's interventions in areas like protection, shelter, and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), humanitarian mine action, economic recovery, peacebuilding, have been crucial for IDPs, returnees, and host communities.
In 2024 following a round of assessment conducted in 2023, the DRC expanded its operations to the North-West, Nigeria (Zamfara and Sokoto States), where inter-ethnic conflict triggered internal displacement and deteriorated the humanitarian context.
The degrading security situation has been further convoluted by a striking wave of kidnapping, illicit mining, cattle rustling, and village raids, particularly impacting the states of Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina.
The operational context in northeast and northwest Nigeria remains challenging, as the ongoing conflict impedes conflict-affected communities’ access to the limited basic services that are available, and it also impedes DRC and other humanitarian actors from getting access to persons of concern.
