Recent months have seen Nigeria return to the international spotlight due to a surge in violence, including the abduction of schoolchildren, devastating attacks on entire villages, and worshippers being targeted in both churches and mosques. This wave of insecurity gained a new geopolitical dimension when the United States launched Christmas Day airstrikes against jihadist positions in northern Nigeria, described by Washington as an effort to safeguard threatened Christian communities.
In this context, some American officials are now suggesting the existence of a “Christian genocide.”
However, for the United Nations, these dramatic incidents – and the narratives they generate – only partially capture the reality of a nation grappling with pervasive insecurity that fuels one of Africa’s largest and most overlooked humanitarian crises.
“Security remains one of Nigeria’s primary challenges,” states Mohamed Malik Fall, who coordinates UN agency operations in the country. “It can no longer be confined to a single region; it is almost everywhere.”
An expanding insurgency
The conflict originated in Nigeria’s northeast, a region devastated since 2009 by an armed insurgency initially led by the jihadist group Boko Haram, and subsequently by its offshoots, including the Islamic State in West Africa. Nearly two decades later, this protracted conflict has profoundly fragmented the country.
“Over two million people remain displaced, not temporarily: an entire generation has grown up in displacement camps, knowing nothing else,” Mr. Fall emphasizes.
Available data indicates more than 40,000 deaths since the insurgency began, thousands of schools and health centers destroyed, and entire agricultural zones rendered inaccessible. Crucially, the UN official highlights, “populations are cut off from all economic activity, deprived of the ability to earn a living and maintain their dignity.”
Banditry and localized conflicts
In addition to this enduring conflict, a more widespread form of violence has emerged over the years. In the northwest, states like Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto are now battling what authorities term “banditry”: criminal armed groups engaged in looting, kidnappings, and ransom demands. “Entire villages have been abandoned. Today, we speak of approximately one million displaced persons in the northwest alone,” explains Mr. Fall.
Within the country’s central belt, clashes between farmers and herders over land, intensified by land pressure and climate shocks, have also triggered waves of displacement. Further south, other flashpoints persist, driven by separatist claims and sabotage linked to oil exploitation.
As a result, with roughly 3.5 million people forced to flee their homes, Nigeria accounts for nearly 10% of all displaced persons on the African continent.
No “Christian genocide,” but indiscriminate violence
Recent assaults on churches and Christian schools have reignited a volatile debate, extending far beyond Nigeria’s borders. In January, over 160 worshippers were abducted during Sunday services in Kaduna State; days earlier, villages in the northwest were attacked, killing dozens, while students were again targeted near the Catholic school in Papiri.
These dramatic acts of violence evoked a long-standing trauma: Chibok, in Borno State, where 276 mostly Christian schoolgirls were abducted in 2014 by Boko Haram.
Citing the protection of Christians against Islamist militants, the US administration ordered Christmas Day airstrikes against jihadist positions in northwest Nigeria. In Washington, some officials now assert that a “Christian genocide” is underway in the country – a classification the United Nations refrains from using, lacking evidence to establish deliberate targeting based on religion on the ground.
“To attribute this violence to targeted persecution of a religious group, I would not take that step,” states Mohamed Malik Fall decisively. “The vast majority of the over 40,000 deaths from the insurgency are Muslims. They have been attacked and killed in mosques.”
He recalls that in Maiduguri, the historical heart of the insurgency, a Christmas Eve attack struck an area “between a mosque and a market,” claiming victims among Muslim worshippers leaving prayers. “Insecurity affects everyone, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” he insists, cautioning against narratives “that risk exacerbating divisions instead of strengthening social cohesion.”
A massive, yet underfunded, humanitarian emergency
Behind the security crisis lies a humanitarian emergency of immense proportions. In the northeast states alone, 7.2 million people currently require assistance, with nearly 6 million facing severe or critical conditions, according to the UN.
Food insecurity has become a central concern. Projections suggest up to 36 million people could fall into various phases of food insecurity in the coming months. Among children under five, more than 3.5 million are at risk of suffering from acute malnutrition. “And the consequences are not just immediate,” warns Mr. Fall, who also oversees the UN humanitarian agencies’ response in the country. “Malnutrition impacts cognitive development, education, and continues to produce its effects into adulthood.”
Adding to these vulnerabilities are climate shocks – droughts, floods – recurrent epidemics such as cholera or meningitis, and a fragile healthcare system.
Yet, funding has drastically declined. “A few years ago, the humanitarian response plan reached nearly a billion dollars annually,” the UN coordinator recalls. “In 2024, it was $585 million. Last year, barely $262 million. And this year, we are not even certain to reach $200 million.”
An economic giant facing its responsibilities
The Nigerian paradox is stark: a massive humanitarian crisis within one of Africa’s largest economies. “Nigeria is not Sudan, nor Somalia, nor South Sudan,” Mr. Fall asserts. “It is a country with resources. The primary responsibility for the humanitarian response rests with the government.”
For the UN, the current objective is to gradually transfer leadership of aid efforts to federal and state authorities across the country, while simultaneously urging donors not to look away. “No population wants to live on assistance,” he concludes. “People prefer to be helped to access economic opportunities rather than depend on aid. Giving fish is good. Teaching how to fish is better.”
