Non-International Armed Conflicts in Nigeria

Airstrikes in Populated Areas

Airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force and the MNJTF against non-state armed groups repeatedly caused civilian deaths in populated areas, raising serious concerns regarding compliance with IHL rules on the conduct of hostilities. Civilian harm was attributed to misidentification of targets and to strikes launched despite indications that civilians were present or that armed group members had already left the area. An MNJTF strike by Chadian forces on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad reportedly hit fishermen mistakenly identified as Boko Haram, despite eyewitness accounts that civilians were visibly trying to escape. Subsequent Nigerian airstrikes likewise reportedly killed civilians in late 2024 and early 2025. The recurring nature of these mistakes suggests a failure to take all feasible measures to verify that targets were lawful military objectives, indicating a pattern of non-compliance.

 Use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)

Improvised landmines and remotely controlled or command-detonated IEDs continued to pose a grave threat to civilians across Nigeria, particularly when deployed in populated areas or locations frequently accessed by civilians where they tend to have indiscriminate effects. Use not directed at specific military objectives violates the principle of distinction, and failure to seek to avoid or minimize civilian harm violates the rule of precautions in attack. Improvised anti-vehicle mines were regularly placed on strategic routes in southern Borno state that also support economic activity, causing repeated civilian deaths and injuries, including attacks on commercial buses. A further incident involved an IED detonated among a crowd at a fish market in Konduga, killing civilians who, absent evidence of direct participation in hostilities, remained protected from attack under IHL.

Food Insecurity

Severe malnutrition was described as particularly acute in northern Nigeria. By early 2025, millions of children were at risk of acute malnutrition in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, and deaths from malnutrition in Katsina state reportedly rose sharply during the first half of 2025. Cuts to international aid budgets were presented as exacerbating an already deteriorating situation, with warnings that child deaths were increasing and the outlook worsening.

Nigeria remained heavily affected by conflict-related displacement, with several millions of internally displaced persons (IDP), more than half in Borno state. Displacement was described as driven by insecurity and fear of violence by State and non-state forces, including village-wide relocations under persistent pressure linked to ISWAP and Boko Haram enforcement of taxes and targeting of civilians, as well as obstruction and intimidation affecting returns. These dynamics support the assessment that displacement often occurred due to overall insecurity and fear of violence, with armed groups’ persistent pressures and threats to life and destruction of property constituting unlawful forced displacement under IHL. Nigerian authorities were described as not complying with obligations to ensure adequate shelter, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition in overcrowded government-run camps marked by disease risks and sexual and gender-based violence. Flooding in 2024 and 2025 further displaced communities and aggravated food insecurity.

Attacks against Health Facilities

Attacks against medical facilities and activities in Nigeria occurred repeatedly, particularly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, with most incidents attributed to ISWAP or Boko Haram. These attacks formed part of a broader pattern in which non-State armed groups targeted the aid sector, reportedly perceiving humanitarian workers as collaborating with the government, contributing to operational suspensions amid insecurity and a funding crisis. As of early 2025, a large proportion of medical facilities had closed or were operating at reduced capacity and many nutrition centres were also affected, heightening risks of further deterioration in an already severe health situation. These developments engage IHL rules requiring protection of medical units and transports, with serious violations amounting to war crimes.

Attacks against Humanitarian Aid

Attacks against humanitarian aid in Borno state affected both relief convoys and humanitarian organizations’ premises. Despite IHL requiring parties to armed conflicts to respect impartial humanitarian assistance, armed groups frequently attacked convoys transporting goods, particularly humanitarian aid needed by civilians, and aid workers documented repeated abductions along the Gajiram to Monguno route, a vital humanitarian and civilian access corridor. Humanitarian offices were also targeted, including an attack in Monguno in February 2025 in which an unidentified armed group set fire to a humanitarian organization’s office, kidnapped security guards and destroyed vehicles, prompting a temporary suspension of humanitarian activities.

In Borno state (north-east), Boko Haram repeatedly attacked cultural and religious property, notably churches, as part of broader offensives largely directed at predominantly Christian communities. Reporting described the destruction of a church during a village attack in January 2025, accompanied by threats to residents and demands to convert to Islam, alongside the burning of homes. These acts implicate the special protection afforded under customary IHL to cultural and religious property, including places of worship and objects of spiritual importance.

Allegations of torture, extortion and forced confessions by Nigerian security forces persisted during the reporting period, alongside prolonged detention without due process and breaches of fair trial guarantees, including for individuals arrested on alleged links to Boko Haram or ISWAP, often without hard evidence. Detention conditions raised further concerns, with severe overcrowding, outdated infrastructure, and inadequate food, water, sanitation and medical care, amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment under IHL. Under IHL, torture and other ill-treatment are absolutely prohibited, and all detainees must be treated humanely.

Allegations of arbitrary deprivation of liberty by Nigerian security forces persisted during the reporting period, including arrests based on alleged affiliation with Boko Haram or ISWAP, often without hard evidence. Detainees reportedly waited years for access to courts, in breach of the peremptory rule of habeas corpus, and women and children allegedly linked to these armed groups were also arrested and held for extended periods. Moreover, journalists, activists and government critics increasingly faced unlawful arrests and detentions, including for alleged offences related to information on military operations. Reports further underscored risks of false accusation, collective punishment and prolonged detention without due process. Under IHL, deprivation of liberty must be lawful and undertaken with appropriate legal safeguards.

Hostage-taking

Hostage-taking by armed groups remained widespread in conflict-affected areas in Nigeria, with hundreds of abductions reported monthly, including of children. Armed groups reportedly carried out mass abductions, including the kidnapping of medical students in August 2024 in East Nigeria, and girls were described as being taken for ransom, forced into marriage, compelled to renounce their religion, or used for trafficking or prisoner exchange, while suffering deprivation, physical punishment and, at times, repeated rape. Medical staff were also regularly kidnapped for ransom, with accounts describing kidnappings as an increasingly profitable enterprise and threats to kill captives if payments were not made, including cases where relatives witnessed murders when they could not pay. Although Nigeria criminalized ransom payments in 2022, many reportedly continued to pay. Under IHL, kidnappings intended to compel the Nigerian Armed Forces to act or abstain from acting in a certain manner, or which is accompanied by ransom demands to the family, constitute the war crime of hostage-taking.

Enforced disappearance, defined as secret detention combined with a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of a detainee, violates IHL’s prohibition of such conduct, the requirement to register detainees, and families’ right to know the fate of relatives. In Nigeria, repression by the security forces included enforced disappearances affecting journalists, activists, and government critics, as illustrated by a case in which a social commentator was reported missing and only later confirmed to be in police custody. In conflict-affected areas, abductions and kidnappings by armed groups were described as widespread and, in many cases, concealment of victims’ fate and whereabouts amounted to the war crime of enforced disappearance.

IHL prohibits pillage and the unlawful destruction of property not justified by military necessity in all armed conflicts, with pillage characterized as a war crime. Boko Haram and ISWAP were reported to have regularly violated these obligations by repeatedly burning homes and looting civilian shops, personal belongings and livestock, including incidents described by witnesses as involving killings alongside the burning of shops and houses. Available evidence did not indicate justification by imperative military necessity, and the systematic nature of the violations reportedly compelled large groups of civilians to flee. The Nigerian government nevertheless retained duties to protect civilian property, and credible allegations indicated awareness of some violations yet failure to exercise due diligence to prevent or suppress them.

Conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria was reported as widespread, with a particularly concerning increase in sexual violence against children. Most verified cases were attributed to Boko Haram and ISWAP and commonly involved abduction followed by forced marriage, rape, and sexual slavery, including the use of victims to reward fighters or incentivize recruitment. This is said to have led some families to accept forced marriage to reduce the risk of abduction. Survivors who escaped captivity faced major barriers to reintegration due to inadequate services and were sometimes questioned and detained for prolonged periods by Nigerian authorities because of alleged association with armed groups. After release, many reportedly lacked assistance for shelter and food, leaving some effectively abandoned, including in IDP camps.

IHL affords children special protection, including a prohibition on the recruitment or use of children under fifteen in hostilities by State or non-State armed forces, and guarantees their protection as civilians alongside specific safeguards relating to food, medical care, education and conditions of detention. In Nigeria, recruitment and use of children, killing or maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abduction were documented during the reporting period. More than 2,500 violations against children were documented in 2024, including almost 1,000 abductions for recruitment and use in combat, mainly by Boko Haram and also by ISWAP, with ISWAP propaganda depicting training of children. Moreover, a small number of cases of child recruitment by the Nigerian Armed Forces were verified, and the security forces frequently detained minors for alleged links to armed groups, although all verified cases ended in safe release.