Over 1,700 killed in boundary, communal clashes in seven years

Policemen

An estimated 1,796 people have lost their lives in boundary and communal disputes across Nigeria between January 2018 and August 2025.

The figures were from media reports and findings from the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta.

Between 2018 and 2022 alone, no fewer than 676 individuals were killed in such conflicts.

The toll rose sharply in subsequent years, highlighting the increasing intensity and frequency of communal violence, especially in the southern and the North Central region of the country.

PIND reported that in Cross River State alone, over 400 deaths were recorded between January 2020 and December 2023 due to communal clashes linked to land and boundary disagreements.

In Delta and Bayelsa states, the organisation noted that over 650 people were killed during the same period.

It warned that the crisis in Okuama in Delta and Igbomotoru Bayelsa communities, driven largely by land disputes and confrontations involving security forces, could have been prevented.

“Communal clashes, especially those involving government security forces, have been causes of lethal violence in Delta and Bayelsa.

“Communal violence caused over 650 fatalities in both states between January 2020 and December 2023,” the report partly read.

Several high-profile incidents highlighted in the media include a land rights dispute that led to mass shootings in Agbudu, Kogi State, killing 14 people—13 of them from a single family in July 2020.

In June 2023, a land conflict in Oju, Benue State resulted in 14 fatalities, while in August 2023, four people were killed in a land ownership clash between the Oyofo and Awha communities in Enugu State, leading to the arrest of 12 suspects.