- Introduction
- Guidance note
- Common analysis
- General remarks
- 1. Actors of persecution or serious harm
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2. Refugee status
- Preliminary remarks
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Analysis of particular profiles
- 2.1. Individuals targeted by Boko Haram
- 2.2. (Perceived) Boko Haram members or supporters
- 2.3. Members of separatist movements and individuals perceived as supporting them
- 2.4. Members of militant groups in the Niger Delta and individuals perceived as supporting them
- 2.5. Members and perceived supporters of political parties
- 2.6. Individuals involved in and affected by conflicts between herders and farmers
- 2.7. Human rights activists, bloggers, journalists and other media workers
- 2.8. Christian and Muslim minorities in specific areas
- 2.9. Individuals accused of witchcraft
- 2.10. Individuals with albinism
- 2.11. Individuals fearing ritual killing
- 2.12. Individuals refusing chieftaincy titles
- 2.13. Individuals targeted by student cults
- 2.14. LGBTIQ persons
- 2.15. Victims of human trafficking, including forced prostitution
- 2.16. Women and girls
- 2.17. Children
- 2.18. Persons with disabilities or severe medical issues, including mental health issues
- 2.19. Individuals accused of crimes in Nigeria
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3. Subsidiary protection
- 3.1. Article 15(a) QD
- 3.2. Article 15(b) QD
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3.3. Article 15(c) QD
- Preliminary remarks
- 3.3.1. Armed conflict (international or internal)
- 3.3.2. Qualification of a person as a ‘civilian’
- 3.3.3. Indiscriminate violence
- 3.3.4. Serious and individual threat
- 3.3.5. Qualification of the harm as ‘threat to (a civilian’s) life or person
- 3.3.6. Nexus/’by reason of’
- 4. Actors of protection
- 5. Internal protection alternative
- 6. Exclusion
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Country of origin information references
- Relevant case law
Last update: October 2021
[Main COI references: Security situation 2021, 1.3.2.2; Security situation 2018, 3.4]
Human rights violations may also be committed by other non-State actors, such as mobs and criminal groups, etc. Some of these acts are purely criminal activities, separate from the herder-farmer violence in the Middle Belt. However, the lines between the farmer-herder clashes and banditry are becoming increasingly blurred in the North-West. Banditry includes kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, rape, and cattle-rustling. It results in forced displacement, an increase in sexual and gender-based violence, a high number of out-of-school children in the region, and it negatively impacts livelihoods, food security, and wider economic costs. Lawlessness and the lack of policing have been described as the underlying factors for an increase in banditry or criminal violence. Whilst kidnap attempts used to target mainly the rich and important political figures and their relatives, more recent data suggests that less targeted kidnappings are taking place. They focus instead on whole villages or pupils from schools, who may not be able to pay the demanded ransom, which explains the rise in fatalities from kidnapping attempts. Bandits are usually armed with small guns.
In recent years, the violence has spread from Zamfara state to the North-Central region and other states of North-West region, including Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto as well as into Niger state.
Some state governors have launched amnesty programs for gang members to surrender their weapons. However, many who were granted amnesty reportedly returned to criminal activities [Security situation 2021, 2.4.2.1].