Nigeria has witnessed a sharp and troubling increase in violent killings in 2025, with more deaths reported in the first six months than during the entire year of 2024, according to newly released data from the National Human Rights Commission.
The agency revealed that at least 2,266 people were killed between January and June 2025 — more than double the 1,083 deaths recorded during the same period in 2024, and already exceeding the total 2,194 deaths recorded across all of last year.
The rising death toll underscores the worsening insecurity across Nigeria, where the military is battling on multiple fronts. From Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents in the northeast, to heavily armed bandits and kidnappers in the northwest, herder-related violence in the central belt, and secessionist unrest in the southeast, the country’s overstretched security forces are struggling to maintain control.
Last month alone, at least 606 people were killed, including around 200 victims of gunmen attacks on the Yelewata and Dauda communities in Benue State, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, presented the grim figures on Tuesday during a national address in Abuja. “These were not mere figures on a report; they were fathers, mothers, children, and breadwinners; families torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and futures extinguished in moments of senseless brutality,” he said, urging the government to act swiftly and decisively.
While the number of abductions declined compared to last year, with 857 kidnappings reported in the first half of 2025, down from 1,461 over the same period in 2024, the general atmosphere of insecurity remains alarming.
The report also highlighted an uptick in deadly attacks against security personnel, noting that more than 17 soldiers were killed in Kaduna and Niger States, and over 40 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force were slain in Zamfara State alone.
Human rights advocates and civil society organizations have joined the Commission in calling for a more coordinated national security response, especially as the year progresses and elections draw near in various regions.
