Abuja recorded 22,460 conflict-related fatalities during President Bola Tinubu's first two years in office, more than doubling the death toll from the combined first two years of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar'Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan.
The stark figures, compiled by StatiSense, show a daily average of 31 deaths from violent conflict during 2024 and 2025—four times the rate recorded during the Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations.
In Nigeria, as across Africa's giants, challenges are real but entrepreneurial energy and cultural creativity drive progress. Yet these numbers demand accountability from a government that promised renewed hope.
The fatalities span multiple conflict zones: Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, bandit attacks across the northwest, farmer-herder clashes in the Middle Belt, and separatist violence in the southeast. The 22,460 deaths surpass even President Muhammadu Buhari's troubled first two years, which recorded 9,835 fatalities.
"We're seeing conflict on multiple fronts simultaneously," said Dr. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, security analyst at Tufts University. "The Tinubu administration inherited serious security challenges, but the escalation suggests current strategies aren't working."
The government's Office of the National Security Adviser declined to comment on the figures, requesting 24 hours to prepare an official response. Presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale previously attributed security challenges to "decades of neglect" but has not addressed the acceleration under Tinubu's watch.
In Zamfara State, where bandit attacks have killed hundreds, farmer Hauwa Ibrahim described living in constant fear.
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