Amnesty International has reported that at least 323 people were killed in violent attacks across six northern Nigerian states that include Benue, Katsina, Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, and Zamfara – within the first 20 days of February.
In a statement shared on its official X account, the organization said the scale of the killings highlights what it described as the government’s failure to curb years of deadly violence by armed groups.
According to the group, the ongoing attacks and the lack of accountability for perpetrators continue to threaten the right to life in Nigeria.
Amnesty noted that since 2020, it has documented repeated assaults on rural communities.
“The attacks often involve heavily armed gunmen arriving on motorcycles, opening fire on residents, abducting women and girls, burning homes, stealing livestock, destroying crops, and kidnapping villagers for ransom. Some communities reportedly received warning letters before the assaults, which in certain cases lasted for hours,” according to Amnesty.
The organization emphasized that the Nigerian government has a constitutional duty to safeguard lives and property, warning that the rising death toll reflects a serious failure to fulfill that responsibility.