1,800 Attacks, 5,700 Dead: UNHCR Warns Lake Chad Crisis Spiralling Out of Control
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin has taken a deadly turn, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealing that nearly 1,800 security incidents claimed more than 5,700 lives in just nine months, underscoring the worsening insecurity gripping parts of Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
The alarming figures, released by the UN refugee agency on Friday, paint a grim picture of a region increasingly overwhelmed by killings, kidnappings, attacks on civilians, village raids, explosions and violent clashes involving armed groups.
According to UNHCR, the incidents were recorded between September 2025 and May 2026 across the Lake Chad Basin, which spans northeastern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, highlighting what the agency described as a rapidly deteriorating security environment with devastating humanitarian consequences.
