Report: Insecurity Killed More Nigerians in First Half of 2025 Than All of 2024
Nigeria has recorded more conflict-related killings in the first six months of 2025 than in the whole of 2024, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
At least 2,266 people were killed between January and June 2025 — surpassing the 2,194 deaths recorded for the entire previous year. The toll stood at 1,083 during the same period in 2024.
“These were not mere figures on a report; they were fathers, mothers, children, and breadwinners,” said NHRC Executive Secretary Tony Ojukwu during the presentation in Abuja. “Families torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and futures extinguished in moments of senseless brutality.”
Also Read: From Benue to Plateau: Exploring the Root Causes of Killings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt
The bloodiest month so far this year was June, with 606 people killed, including about 200 deaths from coordinated gunmen attacks in Benue’s Yelewata and Dauda communities.
The killings come amid worsening insecurity across the country, where the overstretched military is battling insurgents in the northeast, bandits in the northwest, herder-farmer conflicts in the central belt, and secessionist unrest in the southeast.
In addition to the rising death toll, the NHRC reported 857 abductions in the first half of 2025 — a drop from 1,461 over the same period last year. But attacks against security personnel have increased: over 17 soldiers were killed in Kaduna and Niger states, while more than 40 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force were killed in Zamfara.
