- Report: Nigeria recorded 43 terror attacks, 1,306 bandit incidents in 2024
Policy research group Nextier has called on the federal government to release the detained leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, arguing that his continued incarceration exacerbates insecurity in the Southeast.
Presenting its 2025 annual violent conflict report, the organisation stated that Kanu’s release could help distinguish Biafra agitation from banditry and criminal activities currently thriving under the movement’s guise.
The report revealed that between 2020 and 2024, Nigeria recorded 5,291 violent incidents, leading to 20,472 fatalities and injuries. In 2024 alone, the country witnessed 43 terrorist attacks and 1,306 incidents of banditry.
Nextier’s Managing Partner, Dr. Ndubuisi Nwokolo, disclosed these findings at a press conference in Abuja, highlighting key factors shaping Nigeria’s security in 2025, including the Sahel conflict, Nigeria’s evolving diplomatic ties, and growing terrorist expansion.
The report, titled Mutations of Terror and Conflict, also flagged illegal mining in the North-West as a major driver of banditry, with the region becoming increasingly lawless. It further disclosed that 11,002 people were kidnapped between June 2020 and December 2024, with the North-West being the hardest hit.
Additionally, the farmer-herder conflict remains a significant security challenge, recording 2,347 casualties from 359 incidents between 2020 and 2024. In 2024 alone, 467 casualties were linked to 61 violent incidents, with the North Central region accounting for 89% of the fatalities.
Other violent threats identified in the report include cultism, communal clashes, extrajudicial killings, and violent protests. Cult-related violence alone accounted for 2,988 incidents and 695 casualties within the same four-year period.
To tackle these security threats, Nextier recommended a mix of military and non-military strategies, improved security sector funding, and greater regulatory oversight. It also warned that the government’s handling of Kanu’s case and its approach to the extradition of separatist agitator Simon Ekpa from Finland could influence secessionist movements in 2025.
The report further linked the trajectory of kidnapping and political conflicts to factors such as budgetary allocations for security, local vigilante empowerment, and upcoming electoral cycles, particularly the 2027 general elections and off-cycle polls.
