At least 323 people have been killed in a series of violent attacks on rural communities across Benue, Katsina, Kwara, Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara states within the first 20 days of February, according to documentation by Amnesty International.
Amnesty International said the escalating death toll highlights what it described as the federal government’s failure to develop and implement an effective strategy to end years of mass atrocities by armed groups operating across northern Nigeria.
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“The rising death toll clearly shows that President Bola Tinubu and his government have no effective plan for ending years of atrocities by armed groups and gunmen that have killed thousands of people,” the rights organisation said in a statement.
According to Amnesty, the persistent killings and the authorities’ inability to halt the violence or bring suspected perpetrators to justice continue to pose a grave threat to the right to life in Nigeria.
The organisation noted that since 2020 it has documented a consistent and “horrifying pattern” of attacks in which gunmen arrive in villages on motorcycles, heavily armed, and unleash violence on residents.
“Attackers shoot sporadically at people, abduct women and girls, set houses on fire, steal livestock, destroy farm produce and abduct villagers for ransom,” Amnesty said.
In several recent incidents, villagers reportedly received so-called “warning letters” from armed groups before the assaults. Amnesty said these attacks often last for hours without any meaningful intervention by security forces.
“One of the recent attacks on some villages in Niger State started around 3:00 a.m. and continued until about 10:00 a.m.,” the organisation stated.
Residents interviewed by Amnesty said they felt abandoned by the authorities. “Most villagers told Amnesty International that the government left them at the mercy of their attackers,” the statement added.
Amnesty stressed that under both Nigerian and international law, the government has a clear obligation to protect its population.
“The rising death toll in the north of Nigeria shows just how badly the authorities are failing in this responsibility,” the organisation said.
