While Nigeria currently hosts around 135,000 refugees, a significantly larger number of Nigerian nationals are displaced across borders
Lost Across Borders… 250,000 Nigerians Living as Refugees Worldwide
As the world marks the 2025 World Refugee Day, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) has disclosed that more than 250,000 Nigerians are currently living as refugees in various countries, including Cameroon, Libya, South Sudan, Chad, and Niger.
The Federal Commissioner of the Commission, Tijani Ahmed, revealed the figures during a commemorative road walk in Abuja on Thursday. He noted that while Nigeria currently hosts around 135,000 refugees, a significantly larger number of Nigerian nationals are displaced across borders.
“We have a lot of refugees in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. In Nigeria today, we are hosting no less than 135,000 refugees,” Ahmed stated.
“We also have no less than 250,000 Nigerian refugees living in other parts of the world. Particularly, we have no less than 125,000 Nigerians living in Cameroon. We also have Nigerians in Chad, Niger, South Sudan, Libya, and other parts of the world.”
He further affirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration remains committed to addressing issues affecting refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), stressing the government’s willingness to ramp up support through the Commission.
“President Bola Tinubu has been supporting and is willing to offer more support to the commission to assist migrants, refugees, and IDPs,” he said.
Addressing concerns over a possible deportation of Nigerian migrants from the United States, Ahmed said the Federal Government is proactively preparing for such an eventuality.
“As far as we are concerned, it is a policy statement. However, Nigeria has been very proactive, and we have constituted a committee to look into it in case it becomes a reality. We are ready to receive our people and provide them with the kind of livelihood and support they deserve,” he assured. “The Nigerian government is ready for that. The Nigerian government has already constituted a committee and is awaiting any action that might come from the U.S. So, there is no cause for alarm.”
Also speaking at the event, Alozie Godfrey, Senior Humanitarian Officer at the ECOWAS Commission, emphasized the regional body’s continued support for displaced persons in West Africa. He disclosed that ECOWAS disbursed $9 million in humanitarian support across its 15 member states last year, with Nigeria receiving $1.7 million of the allocation.
“Last year, we basically assisted refugees in all ECOWAS 15 member states, and all their persons of concern, to the tune of about $9 million. The government of Nigeria got about $1.7 million of this money,” Godfrey said.
“This year, we are also working to assist refugees and internally displaced persons all around West Africa, and particularly in Nigeria, where we have our headquarters, to make sure that refugees are given the rights they are supposed to get, and make sure that we also assist them.”
He affirmed ECOWAS’s dedication to supporting vulnerable populations, despite budgetary limitations:
“ECOWAS Commission remains concerned with issues of refugees, and we will continue to work hand in glove with our partners to make sure that we assist them to the best of our ability, given the lean resources that we have.” Read More
