Nigeria will enter 2026 with more than 7.3 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, as prolonged conflict, food insecurity, climate shocks and poverty continue to deepen vulnerability across the country, according to the Nigeria 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The report notes that in the conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, about 5.9 million people are expected to face severe to extreme humanitarian needs, including life-threatening conditions that require immediate intervention. Non-state armed groups have intensified attacks, increasingly targeting civilians alongside military forces. An estimated 4,000 civilians were killed in the first eight months of 2025 alone, matching the total number recorded throughout 2023.
Beyond fatalities, civilians continue to experience widespread protection concerns such as abductions, gender-based violence, forced recruitment, extortion and exposure to improvised explosive devices. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, early marriage and loss of livelihoods, while men and boys face forced recruitment, arbitrary detention and dangerous coping strategies driven by economic desperation.
Food insecurity and malnutrition remain among the most critical challenges nationwide. The UN estimates that hundreds of thousands of Nigerian children are at daily risk of death, with millions suffering long-term health consequences such as stunting and wasting. In the northeast, at least 75 children are believed to face death every day without urgent therapeutic care, as violence, rising food prices and destruction of farmland limit families’ ability to cope.
The crisis is not limited to the northeast. In northwestern Nigeria, armed criminal violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, while repeated attacks on relocation sites have undermined efforts to resettle internally displaced persons safely. In the Middle Belt, ongoing clashes between farmers and herders, as well as intercommunal conflicts, have led to further displacement and loss of lives.
According to OCHA, multidimensional poverty affects more than 90 per cent of rural populations in northern Nigeria, leaving communities highly exposed to shocks such as disease outbreaks, conflict and natural disasters. Climate change has worsened the situation, with floods in 2024 affecting over five million people nationwide, killing nearly 1,000 and destroying crops that could have fed an estimated 13 million people for a year.
Rapid population growth of about three per cent annually, combined with declining humanitarian funding, is expected to further strain access to basic services and intensify competition over scarce resources. The UN warns that humanitarian access remains challenging in many areas due to insecurity, damaged infrastructure and explosive hazards, making air transport essential for reaching some communities.
The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan calls for sustained international support and adequate funding to enable life-saving interventions, protect vulnerable populations and address the drivers of Nigeria’s worsening humanitarian crisis.
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