A new security analysis released by the Stefanos Foundation has painted a grim picture of Nigeria\u2019s worsening insecurity in the months following the United States\u2019 Christmas Day 2025 airstrikes targeting insurgents in the country\u2019s Northeast.<\/p>\n
The report, covering the period from 25 December 2025 to 30 April 2026, documented 437 violent incidents across Nigeria, resulting in 1,720 deaths, 1,484 abductions, and 292 injuries within 127 days.<\/p>\n
According to the findings, the violence translates to an average of approximately four people killed every day, underscoring what analysts describe as an escalating multi-front security emergency.<\/p>\n
Although the U.S. military strikes in Sokoto on Christmas Day were intended to weaken insurgent capabilities, the report concluded that the intervention failed to significantly reduce violence nationwide.<\/p>\n
Instead, the analysis suggests that attacks merely shifted geographically and tactically, with February and April 2026 emerging as the deadliest months, recording 102 and 105 incidents respectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sokoto bombing limited some strategic impact only, as violence simply diffused rather than declined,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
The report identified Borno State and Kwara State as the most affected areas, accounting for 51 and 47 incidents respectively.<\/p>\n
Researchers attributed the majority of attacks – approximately 60 percent – to militant Muslim Fulani herdsmen. Armed bandits accounted for 20 percent, while Islamic State West Africa Province and Boko Haram were responsible for another 15 percent. Other actors made up the remaining five percent.<\/p>\n
Christians and Religious Institutions Targeted<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the report\u2019s strongest claims is that Christian communities continue to face systematic and symbolic attacks.<\/p>\n Investigators documented repeated assaults on churches, pastors, Christian villages, parish houses, and night vigils, particularly during major Christian observances such as Christmas and Easter.<\/p>\n The period between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday witnessed a spike in attacks, which the organization said \u201cspecifically validated the much-denied genocide on Christians in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n States frequently affected by such attacks included Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Taraba, and Kwara States.<\/p>\n The report also highlighted disturbing new trends in the conflict.<\/p>\n Among them was the increasing killing of multiple members of the same family during coordinated village attacks. It was also observed intensified assaults on military installations in Borno State, where insurgents reportedly overran forward operating bases and killed scores of soldiers, including four senior officers.<\/p>\n In Northwest Nigeria, armed bandit groups reportedly expanded operations involving mass kidnappings, highway ambushes, and the imposition of illegal taxes and levies on vulnerable communities, particularly in Zamfara and Niger States.<\/p>\n Mass abduction incidents were also recorded in locations including Kubwa in the Federal Capital Territory, a wedding ceremony in Kaduna, and a church in Kwara State.<\/p>\n Insecurity Spreads Southward<\/strong><\/p>\n Beyond Nigeria\u2019s traditional conflict zones, the report warned that violence is increasingly spreading into southern states.<\/p>\n Fresh incursions linked to armed Fulani groups were documented in Enugu, Ebonyi, Ondo, and Oyo States, signaling what researchers described as a dangerous geographic expansion of the crisis.<\/p>\n While Nigerian security forces carried out several successful rescue operations, arrests, airstrikes, and militant neutralizations during the review period, the report concluded that those efforts were insufficient to contain the scale of violence.<\/p>\n Rural communities, farmers, churchgoers, women, children, travelers, and security personnel remained among the most vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n The foundation warned that Nigeria\u2019s long-running insecurity – fueled by religious extremism, governance failures, arms proliferation, ethnic tensions, and competition over land and resources – shows \u201cno signs of abatement\u201d in early 2026.<\/p>\n The report called for a coordinated national response combining military operations with governance reforms, rural development, economic opportunities, improved community protection, and inter-communal reconciliation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new security analysis released by the Stefanos Foundation has painted a grim picture of Nigeria\u2019s worsening insecurity in the months following the United States\u2019 Christmas Day 2025 airstrikes targeting insurgents in the country\u2019s Northeast. The report, covering the period from 25 December 2025 to 30 April 2026, documented 437 violent incidents across Nigeria, resulting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":98289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5807,7],"tags":[1165,518,211,5254],"class_list":["post-98874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-and-violence","category-news","tag-christians","tag-christmas","tag-sokoto","tag-stephanos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}