Violence forces 23,000 Nigerians to flee to Niger

At least 23,000 people escaping violence in north-western Nigeria have fled to neighbouring Niger in recent weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said.


The refugees were "mainly desperate women and children", who had been allowed to seek protection in Niger despite border closures as a result of coronavirus pandemic, the UN agency said on Tuesday.

The UNHCR said that an additional 19,000 Niger nationals in the southern Maradi region had become displaced inside their own country "fearing and fleeing the same insecurity in the border areas”.


"Those fleeing speak of extreme violence unleashed against civilians, murders, kidnappings for ransom and pillaging and looting of villages," the statement said.

The numbers fleeing have almost tripled from last year when the agency reported the first influx of 20,000 people following an insurgency and banditry in northern Nigeria that killed hundreds and displaced thousands.