Zainab Abioye
More than 2,000 residents of Dekera District in Niger State have reportedly fled Nigeria for neighbouring Benin Republic following a wave of attacks and mass abductions by armed men, Amnesty International has said.
The rights organisation disclosed this in a statement on Friday, warning that the mass displacement underscores the worsening security crisis confronting rural communities in northern Nigeria.
According to Amnesty International, the residents crossed into Benin Republic after gunmen attacked communities in the area on Friday, August 21, during which hundreds of people were reportedly abducted.
The development has raised fresh concerns over the ability of security agencies to protect residents of remote communities from persistent attacks by bandits and other armed groups.
Amnesty International urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to urgently strengthen measures to protect vulnerable communities and tackle what it described as a “horrifying spate of abductions” across northern Nigeria.
The organisation said at least 1,100 people had been abducted between January and April 2026, while cautioning that commonly cited figures might not adequately capture the true scale of the crisis.
“At least 2,000 people from Dekera district in Nigeria’s Niger State have fled into neighbouring Benin after the attacks last Friday in which hundreds of people were abducted during a raid by gunmen on mosques in the area,” Amnesty said.
It added that the Federal Government must urgently address attacks targeting rural communities, many of which, according to the organisation, had endured repeated assaults by armed groups for years.
Amnesty further raised concerns about the treatment of people abducted by gunmen, alleging that victims were subjected to severe abuses, including torture, starvation and sexual violence.
The organisation said the pattern of attacks had left rural communities increasingly vulnerable, with residents forced to abandon their homes and seek safety in neighbouring countries.
The mass movement of Nigerians into Benin Republic is particularly significant because it demonstrates how insecurity is no longer merely displacing communities internally but is also pushing residents across Nigeria’s international borders in search of protection.
Amnesty International also warned that the scale of Nigeria’s abduction crisis could be considerably higher than official or widely circulated estimates because attacks in remote communities are often poorly documented.
It called on the Tinubu administration to prioritise the protection of civilians, improve security in vulnerable communities and ensure that victims of attacks and abductions receive appropriate support.
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