AS President Bola Tinubu celebrates his second year in office, a report by Amnesty International Nigeria seems to cast a shadow on celebrations, as it shows that at least 10,217 people have been killed since he assumed office in 2023.
The human rights organisation stated that the deaths were caused by attacks from gunmen, bandits and other armed groups, with Benue, Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara affected.
It said Benue State accounts for the highest death toll of 6,896, followed by Plateau State, where 2,630 people were killed.
The organisation said the failure of the Nigerian government to protect lives and property from daily attacks by armed groups and bandits has cost thousands of lives and created a potential humanitarian crisis across many northern states.
“Today marks exactly two years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office with a promise to enhance security. Instead, things have only gotten worse, as the authorities continue to fail to protect the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty and the security of tens of thousands of people across the country,” said Isa Sanusi, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria..
“President Tinubu must fulfil his promises to Nigerians and urgently address the resurgence of the nation’s endemic security crisis. The recent escalation of attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups shows that the security measures implemented by President Tinubu’s government are simply not working.”
Amnesty International Nigeria lamented that in the two years since President Tinubu’s government assumed power, new armed groups have emerged, including Lakurawa in Sokoto and Kebbi states and Mamuda in Kwara State.
“Our investigation verified the killing of over 294 people in Katsina State and documented the abduction of 306 people, mostly women and girls, between May 2023 to May 2025,” the organisation said.
It said, “Over 273 people have been killed and 467 people abducted. Since the beginning of the security crisis, bandits have sacked 638 villages, while 725 villages are under the control of bandits, across 13 local governments of Zamfara State.”
The organisation said its findings showed that over 500,000 people have been displaced as a result of attacks in Benue and Plateau states since the Tinubu administration took over power.
It said the majority of those affected by the attacks are farmers, whose displacement meant they could no longer cultivate their farms.
It said this had led to a humanitarian crisis, as reports from survivors indicated that they now resort to begging to survive each day.
“At Dangulbi district of Zamfara State, farmers have to watch their harvest of sweet potatoes rot because bandits have prevented them from transporting them to the nearest market,” Amnesty International Nigeria said.
Residents of villages in Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina states told the organisation that gunmen also impose levies on them via phone calls, with the warning that failure to pay by a given deadline will be punished with death.
On the response of the Nigerian authorities, a resident of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State told Amnesty International Nigeria, “The only relationship between us and the government is that they issue media statements after we are attacked and killed. That is all they do.
When the next attack comes, they will issue another empty statement, while bandits escalate their atrocities. We are helpless.”
Giving his opinion, the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the Tinubu administration has done nothing worthy of celebration.
“Tinubu’s administration is yet to even start governing the country. Expecting anybody to score such an administration is too much. The government has not performed,” he said.
“The government should know that its primary purpose is the security of the lives and property of the citizens. So if any government in office is incapable of providing security, the best bet is for the government to resign,” Onwubiko said.