The recent closure of all eight official displacement camps in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in conflict-torn northeast Nigeria, has led to a fresh wave of violence and displacement. More than 150,000 people who were relocated from their camps may now be forced to flee again due to the insecurity and lack of protection in their resettlement sites.

In mid-March, the situation intensified when insurgents abducted an unspecified number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had left their camps to gather firewood. Estimates suggest at least 200 IDPs were taken and only nine have returned.

Borno has witnessed a surge in violence between January and March, with 176 reported attacks on civilians, particularly targeting IDPs and returnees, and 195 incidents of abduction, kidnapping, and forced disappearance. This marks a significant increase compared to the same timeframe in 2023, which saw 71 incidents of civilians attacked by insurgents and three abduction events.

— Zubaida Baba-Ibrahim for The New Humanitarian, April 23 (excerpt)

See our last reports on this year's mass abuctions.