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The Federal Government says 3,679,757 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were living in camps and host communities across Nigeria as of September 1, 2026.
The Federal Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP), Aliyu Ahmed, disclosed this at a national multi-stakeholder policy dialogue in Abuja.
Ahmed, who was represented by his Special Adviser, Dahiru Sajo Bobbo, also said Nigeria was hosting 140,927 refugees and asylum seekers from countries including Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Congo and Sudan.
He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting vulnerable populations within the country.
The figures were disclosed at the dialogue organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International Nigeria, with support from the Government of Ireland.
The event focused on strengthening human rights-centred and gender-responsive approaches to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Nigeria’s defence and security operations.
Stakeholders at the meeting called for stronger institutional safeguards, confidential reporting channels and effective accountability mechanisms to address SGBV within the security sector.
CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Rafsanjani, said security institutions should be assessed not only by their operational capacity but also by their ability to protect human rights, dignity, safety and equality.
He noted that SGBV affects security personnel, civilians, detainees and communities affected by conflict.
Rafsanjani called for safe and confidential reporting mechanisms, stronger institutional accountability and gender-responsive security operations.
He also urged better coordination among security agencies, oversight bodies, civil society organisations and development partners, stressing that survivors must remain at the centre of prevention and accountability efforts.
The ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Aliyu, represented by Mrs Peace Arocha, pledged the commission’s continued enforcement of laws and policies against SGBV.
Aliyu expressed concern over widespread underreporting, which he said continued to hinder efforts to identify perpetrators and secure justice for survivors.
He disclosed that the ICPC had secured convictions in two sexual harassment cases involving Federal Government v. Professor Iyiola and Federal Government v. Professor Cyril Ndifon.
The commission has also established a Sexual Harassment Abuse and Response Team to strengthen prevention, sensitisation and enforcement.
Programme Manager of Transparency International Defence & Security, Yi Kang Choo, said the scale of conflict-related sexual violence globally underscored the need for stronger responses in Nigeria.
Choo said the United Nations verified more than 9,000 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, representing about twice the number recorded the previous year, while warning that actual cases were likely much higher.
He said underreporting remained a major challenge, with women and girls disproportionately affected, while men, boys and detainees also faced SGBV and barriers to justice.
Choo linked corruption to sexual violence, saying bribery, intimidation and abuse of power could facilitate abuse or prevent survivors from reporting incidents.
He cited Nigeria’s score of 28 in the 2025 Government Defence Integrity Index, placing the country in the “very high” corruption-risk category, despite an improvement from its 2020 score of 22.
He said Nigeria scored 17 out of 100 on whistleblowing, highlighting a major gap between formal safeguards and public confidence in reporting abuses.
Choo also noted that women constituted less than 11 per cent of the Nigeria Police Force, calling for greater female participation in recruitment, leadership and decision-making.
He said Nigeria’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, launched in December 2025, provided a framework for strengthening gender mainstreaming and complaint mechanisms.
The First Secretary, Security and ECOWAS Relations at the Netherlands Embassy in Abuja, Dineke Traore, said security, human rights, integrity and accountability were mutually reinforcing principles.
She urged security institutions to protect citizens, operate transparently and ensure that victims could report violations safely and have confidence that complaints would be taken seriously.
The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Tony Ojukwu, said the commission had documented SGBV cases through its field monitors, Human Rights Situation Room, IDP interventions, detention facilities and conflict-affected communities.
Ojukwu warned that sexual violence was both a consequence of insecurity and, in some instances, a feature of security responses.
He stressed that even one case of SGBV involving a state actor could undermine the legitimacy of an entire operation and erode public trust in security institutions.
