As President Bola Tinubu celebrates his second year in office, a report by Amnesty International Nigeria seems to cast a shadow on celebrations, as it shows that at least 10,217 people have been killed since he assumed office in 2023.

The human rights organisation stated that the deaths were caused by attacks from gunmen, bandits and other armed groups, with Benue, Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara affected.

It said Benue State accounts for the highest death toll of 6,896, followed by Plateau State, where 2,630 people were killed.

The organisation said the failure of the Nigerian government to protect lives and property from daily attacks by armed groups and bandits has cost thousands of lives and created a potential humanitarian crisis across many northern states.

“Today marks exactly two years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office with a promise to enhance security. Instead, things have only gotten worse, as the authorities continue to fail to protect the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty and the security of tens of thousands of people across the country,” said Isa Sanusi, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria.

“President Tinubu must fulfil his promises to Nigerians and urgently address the resurgence of the nation’s endemic security crisis. The recent escalation of attacks by Boko Haram and other armed groups shows that the security measures implemented by President Tinubu’s government are simply not working.”

Amnesty International Nigeria lamented that in the two years since President Tinubu’s government assumed power, new armed groups have emerged, including Lakurawa in Sokoto and Kebbi states and Mamuda in Kwara State.

“Our investigation verified the killing of over 294 people in Katsina State and documented the abduction of 306 people, mostly women and girls, between May 2023 to May 2025,” the organisation said.

It said, “Over 273 people have been killed and 467 people abducted. Since the beginning of the security crisis, bandits have sacked 638 villages, while 725 villages are under the control of bandits, across 13 local governments of Zamfara State.”

The organisation said its findings showed that over 500,000 people have been displaced as a result of attacks in Benue and Plateau states since the Tinubu administration took over power.

It said the majority of those affected by the attacks are farmers, whose displacement meant they could no longer cultivate their farms.

It said this had led to a humanitarian crisis, as reports from survivors indicated that they now resort to begging to survive each day.

“At Dangulbi district of Zamfara State, farmers have to watch their harvest of sweet potatoes rot because bandits have prevented them from transporting them to the nearest market,” Amnesty International Nigeria said.

Residents of villages in Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina states told the organisation that gunmen also impose levies on them via phone calls, with the warning that failure to pay by a given deadline will be punished with death.

On the response of the Nigerian authorities, a resident of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State told Amnesty International Nigeria, “The only relationship between us and the government is that they issue media statements after we are attacked and killed. That is all they do. When the next attack comes, they will issue another empty statement, while bandits escalate their atrocities. We are helpless.”

Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) backed the report by Amnesty International, just as they urged the President to commit to protecting the lives of citizens.

The Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwanguma, told our correspondent that the President should use May 29 to apologise to Nigerians instead of celebrating.

“I don’t know what Tinubu is going to talk to Nigerians about. I don’t know what he’s celebrating. What we expect to hear him say is to apologise to Nigerians and to commit to rescuing this country from total collapse. If you want to describe a failed state, Nigeria has all the indices that define a failed state. The worst part is that there is no effort on the part of the government to address the killings,” he said.

He stated that the rise of new terrorist groups shows that the government has no clue how to address insecurity.

“Existing terror groups have continued to operate without a check. New ones are coming up, which shows that Nigeria has lost control over the state. Criminals have taken over, and that is why Nigerians are no longer safe and secure,” he added.

Giving his opinion, the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the Tinubu administration has done nothing worthy of celebration.

“Tinubu’s administration is yet to even start governing the country. Expecting anybody to score such an administration is too much. The government has not performed,” he said.

“The government should know that its primary purpose is the security of the lives and property of the citizens. So if any government in office is incapable of providing security, the best bet is for the government to resign,” Onwubiko said.

A security expert, Yemi Adeyemi, has called for patience with the Tinubu administration, saying the security challenges it is facing were inherited and cannot be solved in a day.

He said, “Let’s be frank with ourselves. The Tinubu administration is not the problem. If the position is occupied by someone else, that person will have this same problem. The former President faced the same problem, and it was not resolved before Tinubu took over the government. It cannot be resolved in a day, but gradually. Remember, he inherited the security challenge and he’s trying his best to find the solution to it. I will be the last person to condemn the administration.”

He further stated, “The Minister of Defence and other security chiefs have not done anything to assist the President concerning security. All the security advisers are not doing anything. There is nothing new in their possession to counter the terrorists. Nigeria does not have drones that can fly beyond three hours.”

Meanwhile, the National Counter Terrorism Centre – Office of the National Security Adviser (NCTC – ONSA) has dismissed the report by Amnesty International Nigeria on the country’s security challenges in the last two years.

In a statement, the Coordinator of the NCTC-ONSA, Maj Gen Adamu Garba Laka, described several of the figures and assertions contained in the report as inconsistent with verified data in possession of the centre.

“The report, in its current form, presents an overly alarming narrative which does not reflect the broader realities on the ground, and which risks misinforming the public, damaging the international image of the country, and inadvertently encouraging terrorists and criminal elements by exaggerating the impact of their atrocities,” he said.

Laka invited Amnesty International Nigeria for a meeting to dissect the report in order to avoid misleading the public.

He said the meeting will provide an opportunity for both parties to review the contents of the report, reconcile discrepancies, and discuss ongoing security efforts as well as challenges faced in the protection of lives and property across the country.

“While we recognise and value the role of Civil Society Organisations in documenting human rights concerns, such efforts must be pursued with accuracy, objectivity, and a careful understanding of the prevailing national security context. Therefore, we strongly advise that the said report be withheld from publication, pending a thorough engagement to address the evident gaps and potential misinformation contained therein,” he said.