Insecurity in northern Nigeria continued to push people across borders during the third quarter of 2026, the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) said in its quarterly update for West Africa, published on 28 October.
The update said violence across northern and north-western Nigeria drove civilians into Benin and Niger between July and September.
At a UN briefing in Geneva on 3 July, Andrew Wille, deputy director for West and Central Africa at the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said Nigerians were arriving in north-western Benin fleeing violence by armed groups, with significant movements into Niger as well. He said security in the Lake Chad Basin had been deteriorating since about 2024, and that services in host communities were strained by the new arrivals.
The quarterly update also tracked wider regional shifts. It recorded rising deaths on the Atlantic and Western Mediterranean migration routes despite fewer overall arrivals in Europe, and said Senegal had intensified police checks and deportations of foreign nationals. It also said anti-migrant violence in South Africa prompted more evacuations of West African nationals during the quarter.
The update did not give a count of Nigerians who crossed into Benin or Niger during the quarter.
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