More than 3.5 million people have been forcibly displaced across the Lake Chad Basin as insecurity continues to fuel a humanitarian crisis affecting Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said.
The UN agency warned on Friday that the region was approaching a dangerous tipping point, with violence escalating and humanitarian needs rising despite years of efforts to restore stability.
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, the UNHCR Deputy Director for the West and Central Africa Bureau, Andrew Wyllie, said 8.2 million people now require humanitarian assistance across the Basin.
According to the agency, security incidents rose by 80 per cent between January 2024 and April 2026.
It disclosed that between September 2025 and May 2026, nearly 1,800 security incidents and more than 5,700 fatalities were recorded, including attacks on civilians, killings, kidnappings, explosions, clashes between armed groups and raids on villages.
