Summary of needs
A total of 1.8 million IDPs, returnees and host community members are affected by the indiscriminate use of explosive ordnance (EO), including 1.3 million in Borno, 400,000 in Yobe and 133,000 in Adamawa State. By September, civilian casualties in 2024 had already exceeded totals for 2023, 2022 and 2021, with 593 people killed or injured by EO, 373 of whom were civilians (63 per cent). As more displaced people return to their communities, they face the risk of explosive hazards as they try to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) records show that, between January and September 2024, 91 per cent of civilian casualties occurred in 11 of the 15 LGAs where people are anticipated to return, relocate and resettle, with Borno State reporting the majority of incidents and casualties. As well as causing deaths, injuries and disabilities, EO has a major impact on access to basic services and socioeconomic activities. Travelling by road is particularly dangerous: up to 75 per cent of incidents registered in 2024 were caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mainly road planted. 2024 marked the first occurrence of a Person- Borne IED incident since 2020.
Response strategy
The full extent of explosive ordnance contamination in the BAY states is not fully known due to the lack of access for UN and other humanitarian mine action actors to conduct surveys and clearance. To mitigate the risks, the sector is focusing on preventative measures – ordnance risk education in particular – through a localization approach that puts the reinforcement of local capacities at the core of interventions. Efforts are targeting priority areas of return, relocation and resettlement, and formal and informal IDP settings. Awareness-training for staff of humanitarian organizations working in at-risk areas and assisting victims as part of an integrated and multisectoral response are also priorities for the AoR. Building the capacity of the newly established National Mine Action Centre is a key component of the response strategy, together with reinforcing the capacity of the national police to response to any reports of suspected or confirmed explosive ordinance from local communities.
Targeting & prioritization
For 2025, the Mine Action AoR has based its targeting on the analysis of incidents and casualties from explosive devices, to help prioritize mine action services and response (explosive ordnance risk education/awareness and victim assistance) across north-east Nigeria. Borno State has the most significant needs with 21 LGAs affected, followed by Yobe (7 LGAs) and Adamawa (3 LGAs). The AoR has identified 19 priority LGAs (severity level 3 and 4): Abadam, Askira/Uba, Bama, Biu, Damboa, Dikwa, Gubio, Gwoza, Kaga, Konduga, Kukawa, Mafa, Marte, Mobbar, Monguno, Ngala and Ngazai (Borno), and Geidam and Gujba (Yobe).
Promoting accountable, quality & inclusive programming
Mine Action response is based on needs, capacities and vulnerabilities and is in line with quality requirements set by the International Mine Action Standards. The AoR builds all stages of its interventions on an analysis of how gender and diversity affects patterns of activities, attitudes and behaviours towards explosive ordnance contamination and creates different types of risk for women, girls, boys and men. This is in line with the United Nations Gender Guidelines for Mine Action Programmes, the global mine action gender and diversity strategy and the IASC’s Guidelines on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action. Disaggregated data are systematically collected, analysed and factored into planning the response. The response systematically includes mechanisms for community feedback, PSEA and safeguarding concerns.