KATSINA, NIGERIA — The International Organisation for Migration has revealed that 737,073 people are currently internally displaced across Nigeria’s North-West, with armed banditry and kidnapping accounting for approximately 620,000 of those affected, representing 84 percent of the total displaced population .
IOM Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Sharon Dimanche, disclosed the staggering figures during a press conference in Katsina on Friday, painting a grim picture of a region buckling under the weight of violence and environmental collapse . According to the latest assessment, Katsina State alone hosts 180,938 internally displaced persons, while neighbouring Zamfara State records an even higher figure of 261,995 .
The crisis, however, extends beyond displacement numbers. Dimanche cautioned that the return of displaced persons should not be mistaken for a durable solution. Across the North-West, IOM has recorded almost 147,000 returnees, including more than 37,000 in Katsina, but the organisation stressed that returning home without adequate security and basic services often leads to renewed displacement . “The question is not simply, have they really returned? The real question is, can they stay once they return? Can they rebuild their lives? Can they feel safe again?” Dimanche asked .
Insecurity remains the primary driver of displacement, but climate-related disasters are increasingly compounding the crisis. Between January 2025 and January 2026, more than 138,000 people were displaced in Katsina alone. Nearly 72,000 of those displacements followed floods, heavy rainfall, or windstorms, while almost 60,000 were linked to armed banditry and kidnapping . The IOM chief emphasised that families do not experience displacement in categories. “Whether they flee because of violence or because floods have destroyed their homes and livelihoods, the consequences can be very similar: the loss of livelihoods, children out of school, fear, uncertainty and communities placed under enormous pressure,” she said .
The humanitarian situation is further exacerbated by inadequate shelter and sanitation. According to IOM programme manager John Nahesi, 74 percent of IDP locations in the North-West require shelter support, while 89 percent have inadequate sanitation facilities, exposing vulnerable populations to significant health and protection risks .
Climate change, desertification, inadequate rainfall, and rapid population growth continue to intensify competition over land and water resources, worsening tensions between farming and pastoral communities across the region . The IOM’s Transhumance Tracking Tool Dashboard reported that 388 pastoralists moved 10,572 livestock across Katsina and Zamfara states in May 2026, with the Kaduna-Zamfara corridor emerging as the country’s busiest domestic transhumance route .
Despite the crisis, there are signs of modest progress. Across the North-West and North-Central regions, the assessed number of IDPs declined by nearly five percent between October 2025 and February 2026, while the number of returnees increased by almost five percent . However, Dimanche warned that preventing future displacement is more sustainable than continually responding after communities have been uprooted.
“Conflict rarely happens without warning signs,” she said. “The question is whether we recognise those signs early enough, and whether information reaches the right people quickly enough, and whether communities and authorities can act before tensions become violence and violence becomes displacement” .
The IOM, with funding from the European Union, is implementing the Conflict Prevention, Crisis Response and Resilience Programme in Katsina and Zamfara states to address these challenges. The programme includes the establishment of 80 Community Peace and Resilience Committees, training for 1,700 community members in conflict prevention and early warning, as well as livelihood recovery initiatives, climate-smart agriculture, and community infrastructure projects
Dimanche called on stakeholders to view the crisis as a national issue with far-reaching consequences. “What is happening in the North-West is not simply a regional issue,” she said. “It is a national issue. It affects food production and livelihoods. It affects education and access to basic services. It also affects local economies and social cohesion and, ultimately, Nigeria’s wider stability and development” .
